


Dead Thing Tells No Tales

by Altiria



Category: One Piece
Genre: Explicit Language, Gen, Night At the Museum AU, One Piece Big Bang, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:13:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 26,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24461104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Altiria/pseuds/Altiria
Summary: Ace was under the impression that he was lucky to get the job as a night-guard; a seemingly cushy job guarding stuffed exhibits. That was until the sun fell and the museum springs to life leaving him with battle crazed warriors, living statues, crazed historical figures, and the pirate king himself. The strongest man in history has been freed because Ace didn’t follow a list, and now it's his job to keep him locked up.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy & Portgas D. Ace
Comments: 13
Kudos: 86
Collections: One Piece Big Bang 2019/2020





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was admittedly a struggle, life and inspiration is a challenge right now but I hope you guys can find a little enjoyment in this fic anyway. Huge props to my amazing artist Callanway who helped me get this out. Callanway's art is stunning and I am so grateful to be their partner again this year <3

Raftle, the island of kings. Inaccessible for thousands of years due to the strict protection of the void century and all those that visited. But the pirate age was over, peace had been met, and Raftle's secrets were open for the taking. 

With the crack of ancient stone, a grave undisturbed and hidden away for centuries touched by fresh air for the first time in a thousand years. A woman with her silver hair pinned up leaned down and peered within praying that science had not failed them. Praying that after all these years they'd found him. Gods, they needed to find him. Their funds were running out, the excavation was costing too much with too little to show for it. Her team needed this, and as she gazed down, she found all her secret prayers had been answered. 

"Is it him? Can you tell?" asked her co-worker, and she leaned back with a smile. 

"It's him." She would confirm it properly later, but she knew it was him. "This is amazing, his body has been perfectly preserved." It was obviously mummified, but from a quick glance, she could tell, this was the tomb they were looking for. 

"How can you tell?" asked her too young intern, and Olivia quickly pointed out what she saw without actually touching. 

"See this mark over the cheekbone? It's famous in surviving pictures and this mark-" she traced over the 'x' across his chest, "he gained it in the war of the best, the day the marines executed the first pirate king's son." Olivia knew it all, and she knew this was the corpse she had been looking for her whole career. Pirates were her obsession; it was their era that altered the fate of their world, for as Olivia believed, the better. 

Key names and figures danced in her head, but many were lost to time. The first pirate king, nameless to those alive now, had been executed by the marines according to record. As a result, his body had been cast into the sea, erased from history, and no one would ever know a thing about him. Likewise, the Marines executed the first king's son; and while information on the boy had been erased, his grave had survived even if his skeleton had not. 

But this pirate, the most famous of them all. The one with the most singularly conflicting history, had not been taken by Marine hands. Stories of his demise passed down to her through centuries of word of mouth. Of his deeds, of the changes he'd wrought, of the people he'd saved while baring the pirates' mark. Countless civilizations held a record of him from Abalasta's rouge, who saved a princess. To Dressrosa's screwed records of a gladiator with a woman's name. To the mumbled secrets of the Mink's Monkey king.

No one believed her at first when she told them all these stories were recorded at the same time. That they must have spoken of the same figure with the same distinctive markings. The Pirate King. And now she had located him, buried in Raftle, unaccessible to time and humanity for a thousand years. Olivia had found him, and finally, his secrets would be hers. 

"Lets get him out… we have so much work to do!" Olivia leaned back as her radio buzzed. "Yes?" she called. 

_"We found something… well, best I can describe it is 'bizarre' out here, do you want to check it out?"_

Raftle was a land rich in history, and now she could pass on that history to future generations. 

"I bet it has nothing on what I, or rather, who I found Martin." 

_"I dunno Ma'am, it's giving off some seriously devilishly vibes."_

Olivia chuckled: "'devilishly,' I didn't take you for the superstitious type."

Across the line, Martin gave a hum and stared at the object he'd uncovered, a perfectly preserved golden fruit that seemed to pulse with energy, and he made a face at it. As his gloved fingers wrapped around it a bird of brilliant blue and yellow took to the air with a screech and the ground rattled slightly like the sound of bones. He shivered, usually he wasn't superstitious, but this particular item… it definitely pushed his scientific mind. However, that did not stop him or the team from fully excavating it and bringing it back to base with them. Nor did it keep them from studying it and ensuring it remained with the priceless body of the Monkey King once they discovered the truth.

* * *

His story began with a set of elderly hands carefully stitching together his body. Of a skinned animal and a group of humanitarians wanting the fur to go to good use. It began with a technically accurate body, plastic horns, and real fur, with cotton innards and an unfortunate intern who dropped his nose in bright blue paint.

A museum exhibit ruined in seconds. Put to the side in a box to be disposed of the next morning.

But he was not disposed of. Not when, that very night he gasped to life. Not as he wandered the museum and eventually hid away, the next day his stuffed body couldn't be found. To the day staff, it became a running joke, the moving blue-nosed reindeer. The stuffed thing that the night guard had to be moving around during his shift to mess with them. The day staff found it everywhere and anywhere. In lockers, in the kitchen, in exhibits, behind glass, and underwater. Once, it had been wearing a bright blue and pink hat that no one owned and they’d, on a whim, decided to let the reindeer keep it.

No one had any idea that the night guard had never laid his hands on the creature. He was much too focused on the other exhibits as the sun fell. The Minks and their electrifying abilities, the Alabastan warriors that sneered and snarled at him for daring to lock them down during the daylight hours. The scientist who escaped his exhibit every night no matter what locks were used to keep him in his area. The mermaid statue who watched him with narrowed judgemental eyes. And him. 

The king himself.

The entire museum knew of him, for it was his presence in the museum that brought them to life. The very day he was placed in his exhibit, the night he opened his eyes to his new location… to his new prison. 

_"LET ME OUT!"_

The Night Guard strode past the pirate era exhibit as he did every night and heard the king screaming furious for release. The occasional violent demand cutting through the desperate screams and hammering of fists. It was his good luck that the king had been brought into the museum sealed inside his coffin. It was a fluke that the first night, as everything came to life for the first time, that the king had been trapped as he regained control. His enormous luck that when the king's body was opened to be on display that he had the excellent forward thinking to lock him in before the sun fell.

A power like that… a soul from that era alive in the current… he couldn't imagine how amazingly destructive it could be. 

And he wanted it.

Teach looked at the display behind the king as the man hammered on the inside of his sea-stone coffin. A devil fruit, legend spoke of their power like they were a fairy-tale. Stories of abilities that could transport someone into time, turn into literal fire, or sink entire islands with a wave of the hand. Legends told of figures that could craft tidal waves, be cut to pieces and live, and so much else. 

That fruit, the golden swirling shade of it had been found and brought in with the Monkey King. The leader of the era, the pirate king who historians even thousands of years later debated over. It had been brought in with a man who had changed the world. And while the king interested him, Teach doubted the king could be controlled… unlike the fruit. Teach had no doubt in his mind that it was not the king that brought the exhibits to life, but the fruit brought with him. The one that many assumed was just a historical artifact, a golden trinket buried with a king. Teach knew better. 

It was a devil fruit, a thing of legend, and it held the power of life. 

He wanted it… and he'd have it. 

But first, Teach needed to ensure he wasn't caught stealing, that he could get away with his crime without anyone being the wiser. And Teach knew precisely how he'd do it. 

Caressing the fruit and promising it that he would return soon, Teach left the display uncaringly striking the king's coffin on the way to shock the man and shut him up. Honestly, the screaming was getting annoying. Didn't the man have anything better to do? Teach gave a laugh and admitted that no, the king probably didn't, not contained as he was every single night.

Having decided on a plan, Teach spent the night writing out the first step, and before he left that night, he had it ready to hand in. 

His resignation letter.


	2. The Museum

"MORNING TRAINING! RISE AND SHINE!"

"Nooo," Ace groaned and covered his head with his pillow even if he was aware it would do absolutely nothing in a few short minutes. Years of prior experience led Ace to know no matter what he did, morning training could not and would not be avoided. Morning training would happen when Garp decided it would. Even if Ace had spent the entire night studying for his upcoming test and desperately wanted to sleep a few hours. It would happen no matter the weather outside. It had happened even when Ace had been throwing up from his appendix deciding it wanted to blow up inside him.

"Don't make me come get you, Ace!" 

He groaned louder. Why today? Why had Garp decided they needed training then? Ace had made it very clear he was not joining the military. Ace was not going to march in a line, obey an ass who got promoted because of his parents beri. He was not throwing himself on a bomb for the greater good. Not getting up at the crack of dawn unless forced! 

'Oh, but you don't have any plan,' Garp would say. That was perhaps true, but he was at least going to college for history - mostly because Sabo signed him up - so he wasn't a useless bum! He had plans… sort of. 

His door slammed open, and Ace swore into his mattress. He'd taken too long, and now he was going to suffer for it. Maybe he'd get lucky, and the test that morning would prevent Garp from keeping him too long. But going by his luck, Ace had a feeling he was going to be missing the test or catching it at the last second. 

Dammit, he really needed a job. Then he could afford his own apartment to escape Garp's house. 

If only he had been smart like Sabo and had gotten into the dorms. Sure he'd have to deal with a roommate, but they'd probably have let him sleep-

Garp's hand latched onto his ankle, and Ace yelped as he was wrenched brutally out of his bed and dragged across the floor. In nothing but his boxers, Ace was dragged down the hallway and straight into the backyard as Garp sang about training. Once outside, he was given no warning as Garp attacked, and Ace did his best to dodge. 

Ace stood little chance against his grandfather. It was no surprise to him or anyone else when he narrowly, as in by a hair's breadth, dropped into his seat before the test began. Haruta, who sat on his left, gave a heaving sigh already used to his antics and his smell. Most days, Garp didn't give him the chance to shower, and Ace had the choice of either going to class in sweaty clothing or dousing himself in different scents. He hadn't the time for the latter that day and didn't blink when Haruta reached into his bag and clouded the air with the air-freshener he kept on hand for just such an occasion. To his right, Teach barked a laugh.

"Cutting it close again, did you piss him off again?" 

"Tried to sleep in, didn't you." Haruta suspected as the tests were handed out. Haruta grabbed his before passing Ace the stack. 

"I was cramming all night." Ace said handing back his collection trying not to think about how gross he felt as he put his name at the top and waited for the professor to begin the timer. "I really need a job, Garp is going to actually kill me one day at this rate." 

"Oh…" Teach suddenly leaned into Ace's space, "then I might just have a suggestion for you."

"You do?" Ace perked up. If Teach knew someone, then Ace had an in, and his unfortunate incident with the first job he had would be less of an issue. Things might actually be looking up at this rate.

"Ye-"

"Begin!" 

Teach turned to the professor then back to Ace, "After the test." 

Ace nodded and happily turned to his own test, things might actually be looking up. 

* * *

_"The museum?"_

_"It's perfect for you Ace, the night job won't interfere with school and the pay is great, you'll have enough for the dorms in no time."_

_"Alright… sure, hook me up, Teach."_

_"Of course."_

Getting hired had been shockingly easy. Ace had the connections, and with Teach's recommendation and his slightly edited resume, Ace had been hired after a single simple interview. Garp had been pleased in the end, even if Ace was officially getting out of training because of the hours he'd be working. Though on the downside, Ace wasn't actually getting training for the job. Teach just gave him a large stack of paper before leaving.

_"Just trust me Ace, read the list and follow it exactly, and you'll be just fine."_

So he had the list… the items on it were slightly suspicious. 

"'Turn off the electricity in the mink exhibit'… why?!" Ace stared at his list in utter confusion. The first thing he'd done that afternoon after the day-staff left, was to wander the exhibits a bit to get an idea of where everything was. After doing that, Ace looked at his list, the one Teach had handed to him much earlier that morning. Ace suspected then it that it was filled with things that perhaps his boss did not want to see or to know Ace or Teach had been doing. Which is why he'd put it off. 

In the end, it seemed like a prank. 

"'Make sure the king is locked up'… what king?" Ace rolled his eyes, "It sounds like I'm gonna going to be attacked by zombies Teach." He flipped through the pages randomly and then tossed them to the side, useless, the whole lot of it was a giant prank. Ace honestly should have expected as much, Teach was just like that. 

Stretching out slightly, Ace plopped into the front desk chair and kicked his feet up. He closed his eyes, keeping his ears open for any sign of sound. Yes, the point of taking a night job where he worked alone was the sleep, Ace still didn't intend to actually let anyone steal anything. So he kept mostly alert. Besides, it wasn't like anyone would want to take anything from the museum. Most of the items were replicas and hardly worth stealing. Not to mention technology would ensure anyone stupid enough to try would be swiftly caught. 

Lazing there, Ace felt the sun fading on his face as the sunset slowly slid away. Ace opened his eyes as the sun vanished- and a loud crash sounded somewhere behind him on the first floor. Alarmed that someone had already attempted to sneak in Ace shot to his feet. Nearly tripping on the papers he knocked to the floor, Ace disregarding the large boot-print he left on them and headed blindly toward the noise. He raced down the halls, missing the paintings he passed and how they're eyes followed him as they went Ace skidded to a stop in the Mink exhibit. 

Minks, as Ace had learned in history class, had gone extinct, their home island had vanished. Legend said they'd lived in a living elephant the size of an island, and when it died, the minks lost everything. Ace doubted that was the truth, most people assumed their island had suck like the now floating Island of Water Seven. Regardless, historically they knew Minks existed, bodies and skeletons remained, history told of their existence. Hence, they had, at one point, lived. 

Ace just never expected to see one in the flesh stealing from the museum on his first day as a Night-guard.

The creature, an unbelievable living Leopard Mink, was standing completely nude except for his fur in the middle on the exhibit. Ace skidded to a stop as he spotted it between the plastic trees and grabbed for his flashlight, the only weapon he'd be giving. Not all that helpful now was it?! 

"Hey! Stop!" he called, brandishing his flashlight as if it was a weapon; it was not, of course, but Ace felt better doing it. The item was actually useless as anything because the lights were on in the exhibit, so even if he turned it on, it would be futile. "In the name of the law… or whatever!" 

The Mink turned slowly, its hand Ace realized was on the light switch. Then it smiled at him, revealing colossal razor-sharp teeth. Ace felt a fissure of uncertainty as it opened its mouth and said in heavily accented common. "New guard didn't turn off electric."

"What?" he deadpanned when the Minks hand flicked, and a surge of electricity raced up the Minks arm. Then the exhibit was thrown into pure darkness. 

Gasping slightly, Ace hit the switch on his flashlight- and found the Mink a breath away jaw open, hand out to grab him. Ace promptly did what only someone sane would. He hurled the flashlight at the creature, there was a loud smack, and a shocked yip sounded, but Ace was already sprinting for the hallway. Boots striking the ground, Ace fled before the Mink decided he was lunch and rushed into the lighted hall and crashed into someone. 

An accomplice? Ace staggered quickly to his feet and shot his head up. And up. And up. 

"WHAT THE FU-" a dinosaur, a full-sized, honest to god skeleton stood above him. The mean eating creature which could only be found alive on Little Garden' dinosaur preserve stood before him. A preserve that had once been accessible to humans and had once been an amusement park before all the deaths. A preserve that no dinosaur had ever escaped from beyond a few corpses for research purposes stood before him. A living skeleton, a moving living skeleton of a dinosaur. 

Ace yelped, kicking backward and fleeing the hallway, only to come face to face with the pursuing Mink once more. Scrambling in indecision between running toward the dinosaur of the electrified fist of the Mink Ace ended up tripping. The Minks arm flew over his head and struck bone, the dinosaur gave a furious screech and tried to bite the Mink. Landing on his hands Ace swifting decided to crawl away while they were distracted. When he was some distance away he lurched to his feet and ran full speed back toward the front desk. He had to call it in, to call for help that was more qualified than him. But with every step he took, Ace realized that was going to prove to be complicated. Because it wasn't just the Mink and the dinosaur, everything in the museum had come to life.

It was impossible, but how else could what he be seeing be explained? As he dared to slow, Ace saw the paintings on the walls moving, statues shifting and yawning, animals wandering loosely. Even in the miniatures… everything was alive. 

Ace staggered to a stop and dropped onto one of the benches as a living breathing reindeer wandered past on two legs, he strode past wearing a bright blue and pink hat? "That doesn't even make sense!" Ace cried when he felt his pocket buzz. With a rush of anger, Ace dropped his hand into his pocket and saw a text from Teach. Snarling, he snapped the phone open and read the message. 

_"By now, you realized the museum has come to life. Just a warning, it's real. I hope you followed my list otherwise, good luck! PS: make sure all the exhibits are inside the museum when the sun rises; otherwise, they turn to dust. Bye!"_

"Son of a-" Ace instantly attempted to call him and found that Teach had blocked him! Swearing Ace pocketed his phone and stared at the chaos unfolding in front of him. The reindeer he'd just spotted ran past as a scientist in a white coat ran after him, the man familiar to Ace was screaming obscenities and holding a- gun?! 

As Ace watched the reindeer squeal at the scientist who responded as if he'd understand what it had just said. Apparently something offensive going off what the response was. "-and today will be my victory! For the night-guard has forgotten finally to lock the lab!" the reindeer chattered again, pointing firmly at Ace. "I will not fall for such a simple- oh, hello, there are you new? AK!" 

Just as the scientist turned toward Ace, the reindeer attacked, sending the man to the ground with a flying kick. It exclaimed with a sound Ace never had imagined in his life could come from a reindeer. 

Ace promptly decided he'd seen enough and quickly fled.

Sprinting down the hallway and lunched over a snake, probably and hopefully stuffed without venom included. His first thought was one, he was not staying in the museum for another moment. His second was picturing the apartment he'd rent with his first paycheck. And he was met with indecision. Should he really run? If he did… if he did, who knew what would happen to the exhibits running all over the place and…

"Oh, no." Ace realized as he skidded to a stop. Covering his face with his hand Ace knew what would happen. The day-crew would return to chaos, dusted exhibits if they got out, and others in random positions and places. As a result, no one would believe they'd moved there themselves. Ace would be blamed and fired, and it would become another Charlie's Burger Factory. He'd find an even tougher time getting a job, and he'd be trapped with Garp for the rest of his life-

"No." Ace stated straightening on the spot. That was not happening, it was not. 

He glanced up and around him, seeing statues with legs wandering around. Paintings were visiting each other. Historical figures from all ages were chattering on, and some were full-on fighting. The clang of weapons revealed some ancient Alabastan warriors in battle. All this, including the Minks and the dinosaur, Ace somehow had to get control over before the sun rose if he wanted to keep his job and escape his grandfather. 

Snarling slightly, Ace darted off the spot heading for the front desk. Teach's papers, his hints were Ace's best shot to get control of whatever was happening in the museum. A common problem going off the list and Teach's words - and Teach would be explaining that when Ace next saw him. Bypassing some Tontatta's carrying a collection of loot Ace imagined was from the day-crew’s lockers he rushed down the stairs to the first floor. Thankfully the dinosaur wasn't in sight as Ace rushed for the front desk and came to a skidding stop beside the collection of fallen papers. Amazingly the documents, though jumbled, were still there, and Ace rushed to find what he'd needed to do first. 

"'Number one, lock up the king.'" Ace read and felt himself twitch, what king? Clamping his eyes closed, Ace thought back to earlier when he'd explored the museum to get a good idea of what he'd be guarding. Some of the exhibits were in retrospect worrying him far more than before. The crowns and paintings were now less of a problem than the sword-wielding warriors and historical villains- wasn't there a book villain on display in the fictional section? 

Ace groaned and tapped his head slightly with the papers. Focus. Who was the king? The king, the king, the king- "oh!" Ace's eyes snapped open as he remembered. The king had to be the Monkey King… "Shit!" 

He rushed to grab his keys, and with the papers still in hand, Ace rushed toward the second floor. He took the stairs four at a time in his haste and panic. Number one on the list was to lock up the Monkey King, who had to be the biggest threat in the museum. Ace wasn't surprised by that either. He knew of the pirate era; it was his grandfather's favorite era's to tell him about mostly to emphasize the need for the Coast Guard. 

The Monkey King was a legendary figure in history, the most powerful man in the world legend said. He had been responsible for the turn of the era and the destruction of the world government. He Monkey King had revealed the corruption of the beings known as Dragons and had ruled the seas with an iron fist. The man appeared in the history of countless islands as a hero, villain, and the destroyer of entire islands and lands. The Merfolk claimed he'd single-handedly destroyed their original home but couldn't explain why. 

That figure, the real body had been found and was in the museum, and Ace hadn't locked him up. 

What could that man do now that he was free? 

Temporarily getting lost, Ace used a nearby map to send him right for the pirate exhibit, which was eerily dark. Creeping forward, Ace stepped in and glanced around. The area was pitch black and silent, and it had Ace's heart racing. It was like a horror movie and Ace would find himself jumped and killed in a few second for daring to put an apartment before his life. Actually, putting it like that, he was crazy, but anyone who didn't understand clearly hadn't lived with Garp.

Ace stepped forward. 

The exhibit was designed gold accents with touches of white and black, all three were colors that reminded him slightly of pirates but made the room look darker with the lights off. Most of the exhibits weren't living, things like - Ace thought they were called Log poses, - pieces of ships on display, and treasures like a golden swirling fruit. He could see Eternal Poses, their arrows pointing onward despite how long they'd existed for. The ancient ways of finding your way through the grand-line were terribly outdated but cool to see in a way he decided.

The walls were littered with paintings. Long forgotten names of which were guessed at written under each frame; however, the figures within were gone. A ship on the ocean in one lazily bobbed in the water, a distant crew in another worked to a sea-shanty in an ancient long-dead language. In one frame, a throne was placed in one; it was called 'Anne Bonny.' Another said, 'William Kidd,' with a very dull looking background. 

Ace moved passed the pictures toward the coffin, the exhibit he was supposed to lock up. The first item on his list. His footsteps echoed in the room as he approached, and Ace took it in. The coffin was an elegant piece, golden designs were covering the box. Swirling fruits mixed with odd figures. The image of a whale with the skull and crossbones painted on its head, a woman controlling the weather, a skeleton playing an instrument, a swordsman with his face covered. The figures seemed so life-like, Ace found himself reaching out as he spotted a man surrounded by flames, flames that grew into a stunning golden phoenix. 

His fingers brushed the coffin, and the entire thing jumped. Yelping Ace staggered back in shock as someone- no, the king trapped within screamed. From within, the pirate king kicked, punched, and beat on his prison. The coffin bolted to the floor, shook from the force of it. But by some miracle, the king did not break out, and Ace's heart slowly calmed as the king continued to scream, demanding he be released. 

Giving the coffin a wide birth, Ace caught sight of locks keeping the casket closed, they were done up. Someone had locked the king in before Ace got there… he'd gotten lucky. 

"FREE ME- LET ME OUT. LET ME OUUUUT!" 

Ace shivered as all the hairs on his body stood on end at the desperate screams from within the coffin and quickly backed off further. The king was locked up, job done, and Ace didn't want to remain in that room for a moment longer. Ace hurriedly made his escape and turned to his second item on the list. 

"'Turn off the power in the Mink exhibit'… too late for that." Ace moved on as the skin on his neck prickled, as if the king was watching him, "'Throw something for the dinosaur.'" 

Ace felt his eyebrow twitch and continued on. Locking up the scientists was next on his list, as was closing down the Alabasta exhibit and so much else. Each one was purposely mentioned to prevent a problem from occurring. Still, nothing spoke of what to do it these problems occurred anyway. Like the Minks getting electricity or the scientists escaping, or the Alabastan's apparently starting a tournament to see who was strongest.

Gritting his teeth, Ace glanced at his cell and checked the time. He had six hours before the sun rose, which meant six hours to get all the exhibits back in place before he was fired or they were dusted. 

Shoving the papers in his pocket, Ace straightened. 

For his apartment he could do this!

* * *

“Difficult the first day, isn’t it.” 

The day crew, a man Ace didn’t even know the name of laughed at him. Ace didn’t even bother looking up from his position lulled out on the front desk, he was too tired to move, let alone communicate. 

“I remember my first night-shift, took me forever to figure out how to function, and then I forgot how to do a day shift!” the man laughed, “get some sleep newbie, you’ll need it for tomorrow.”

Tomorrow. 

Ace whined into the table, and the man laughed at him, not noticing the electrified burns Ace now had on the upper arm of his uniform or the slice in his pant leg, which had pieced skin. He didn’t see the mess that Ace’s hair had become when he’d come in contact with a rather huggy mermaid statue. Or the soreness of Ace’s arm from throwing a full-sized dinosaur bone all night. 

Miraculously Ace had gotten control over the museum before the sun rose. He might have been burned, cut, and bruised, but he’d done it. And he’d have to do it again. 

“For the apartment.” Ace mumbled into his arm, only then realizing that yes, he had school in an hour and hadn’t slept a wink. 

He was fucked. 

* * *

Sabo dropped beside his brother soundlessly despite knowing the noise wouldn't actually wake him up. Not when Ace had decided to fall asleep in the middle of the cafeteria with his face in a plate of food. Gently Sabo lifted his brother's head, wiped the meal off with a cloth, and placed his face down on top of Sabo's own backpack. Automatically Ace snuggled into the fabric, and some of the creases vanished from his face. 

Heaving a sigh, Sabo made himself comfortable and started to eat his own lunch. Truthfully he hadn't approved of the job Ace had selected. Sabo had advised Ace to get a part-time job, which would allow him to work, do his schooling, and, most importantly, sleep. But Ace was of the mind that the more he worked, the more he'd earn, and the faster he'd escape Garp's house. Ace also forgot that he needed sleep and would likely fall behind in his classes now that he wasn't sleeping at night. Sabo, of course, had been proven correct. But he had no desire to tell Ace that - that was a lie, he very much wanted to say 'I told you so,' and was narrowly resisting.

Only one day into Ace's new job and his brother had slept through all his morning lessons waking up long enough to get food before falling asleep again. Sitting beside his unconscious brother Sabo gave a displeased expression when he spotted Ace's 'friend' Teach walk in. Sabo had never liked the man, his smile made Sabo's skill crawl, and his very presence was unpleasantly off-putting. Unfortunately, whatever was putting off Sabo about Teach, Ace seemed immune to the affect. Ace and Teach had gotten close quickly and by the time Sabo met the man it was too late to break the pair up without looking like a dick. It also hadn't helped that Sabo had been gone that year working for a non-profit organization.

It didn't help that when Teach caught Sabo's grimace, he smiled. Sabo cringed and looked away watching from the side of his eye as Teach made a b-line right for their table. Sabo groaned internally before kicking Ace awake. He respected his brother's need to sleep, but he was not going to be the one socializing with Teach because Ace needed beauty rest.

"Huh… what? Sabo?" Ace rubbed his eyes and the small amount of sauce on his face smearing it. Sabo didn't respond as he plastered a smile on his face just in time for Teach to sit down.

"Ace! How was your first day?" 

And, Sabo got to witness something new for the first time.

"YOU!" 

Ace wholly enraged, and it directed toward Marshall D. Teach.

"Eh? Was it bad?" 

"I'll kill you!" 

Sabo settled back, feeling uncertain and pleased as Ace launched from his seat and Teach bolted. They raced from the cafeteria, and he settled in to finish his meal feeling lighter than he had for a long while. Until Ace returned, having made up with the man a bare ten minutes later that was. 

* * *

"What was I supposed to tell you?" Teach demanded as Ace pinned him against the school walls, "’oh, by the way, the museum comes to life at night for no explainable reason.' You wouldn't have believed me!"

Okay, that was true, Ace admitted. He would not have believed Teach, but that was beside the point. 

"The damned Minks electrocuted me!"

Teach gave a laugh: "Didn't turn off the power, did you. Honestly, Ace, I told you to follow the list." He smirked, "good thing I stopped in to lock up the king before your shift. Most of that you can deal with if you forget, but the king." Teach shook his head, "that's not something an ordinary human can handle." 

"You did?" Ace released his friend's collar.

"Of course, I had a feeling you'd forget." Teach brushed himself off easily and they stood apart before Teach grinned and Ace heaved a dramatic sigh. "So, how was it?" Teach pressed, and Ace full sagged.

"First, 'Throw something,' is not clear enough advice. And secondly, how does it work?"

"Honestly, Ace." Teach stared at him with something Ace couldn't understand glittering in his eyes. "I have no idea." 

* * *

  
The moment the doors were locked and the day crew left, Ace was in the pirate exhibit thing time taking in the painting when the subjects were actually there. Attractively pained women, a man who looked more like has from the Bourgeois Kingdom with his fake white curls and the dramatic make-up. Another man by the name of Edward Teach had thick black hair and a large naginata in his hand. Frowning at it, Ace felt a shiver, like something was off about the image and looked away from it. 

Each painting was guessed at as no actual images of the famous pirates in history had remained… or at least most of them hadn't. There did exist a wanted poster or two miraculously surviving, but none could be found in this museum. 

Ace approached the coffin of the pirate king and carefully located the lock Teach specifically told him to use. It was an odd blue color and acted more like a bar to latch the king in, rather than a pad-locket, or something Ace was used to. Plucking it from its spot Ace went to close the coffin and hesitated a moment. He… he wanted to see what all the fuss was. He wanted to see what the man actually looked like. 

Reaching up, Ace placed his hands on the coffin's lid and shoved it slightly. He opened it enough to peer within and looked down at the Monkey King, the man of legend. He was disappointed. The body looked like a prune, dried until the skin was pulled tight and brown. The clothes he might have worn were in tatters, crumbling away at points. Really, the Monkey King was a tiny thing, sad-looking instead of legendary and threatening as Ace suspected with all the hammering and screaming the man did during the way. 

Inspecting the king's face, Ace saw there was an odd stretch to the skin at the king's cheek, which was probably the scar the description in front of the king spoke of. There was also a massive mess of darkened skin on the king's chest, which- Ace stared at it, at the mark there and frowned. How young had the king been when he got it? What sort of attack had this tiny figure survived? How had it even occurred? 

Ace felt a large pulse in his head and groaned as a headache started. Cursing slightly, Ace closed the coffin and pressed a hand to his head. He moved back and took a moment to breathe through the sharp pain. Did he have pills in his bag? Yeah he did, he'd grab them once he was finishing prepping the rest of the exhibits. Lowering his hand, Ace reached up and placed the lock in the coffin so the king couldn't escape and slipped away. He still had to make sure to turn off the power to the Mink area, lock up the scientists who Teach warned had once turned their floor into a swimming pool, and so much else… all with a headache.

He groaned and left the area, quickly losing himself to his work. Ace followed the list exactly, so he did not forget that one particular exhibit, no it was not mentioned on his list! It was an exhibit Teach had forgotten about because of how the scientists were locked continuously up. One, that Ace found himself nearly walking into as the moon finally rose. Quite literally actually, Ace tripped right over it.

An upright reindeer not wearing the hat it had stolen the night before glanced at him as Ace staggered and narrowly caught himself. They stood outside the scientist's area as the group within tinkered and debated, all except for one bored genius one again locked up. Staring at each other, Ace glanced at his list, which made no mention of the oddly moving animal and tilted his head. "Hey… where are you supposed to be?"

He didn't expect a response.

But he got one. 

The reindeer chattered at him as it pointed with a hoof and trotted over. In a short moment, it climbed up Ace's leg and settled on his shoulders. Ace didn't even know that particular animal could climb and automatically reached out to steady it. He missed how the creature gave him a intelligent look as it settled. "You some sort of mistake?" Ace wondered as he moved forward slightly; he was rather sure Ace hadn't seen the animal anywhere when the sun was up, but he did recall seeing it the night before. "That nose can't be natural." It was blue for the gods' sake!

It chattered at him again, and Ace hummed, pretending he understood: "got it, you got painted the wrong color or something then came to life." Ace nodded as he entered the aquatic area, "which probably means someone tried to toss you out during the day, which means death so… you hide."

"Oh, how did you know?" 

He jumped because the voice had not come from the animal, but instead from a mermaid status perched happily on a rock in the aquatic area. Her body looked heavy as she shifted on her clam and grinned at him. Entirely made of stone, unlike many other exhibits within the room, she appeared odd and colorless. Yet, still friendly as she beckoned him over, the first to do so. All the other displays had sneered, glared, or simply dismissed him.

"Know what?" he approached her as her tail twisted under her body. 

"About Chopy?" 

"Cho…py? Oh." He glanced at the animal and rubbed the back of his head, "I guessed, that's actually what happened?" 

"Oh yes, one of the men during the day dropped paint on his and couldn't clean it. Chopy there woke up that night and hid, since then he's been around. The day crew calls him a mascot, I think they have fun attempting to locate his new position every night." 

"Ah, ha." The reindeer, Chopy apparently, chattered at him and rested his head on top of Ace's. This seemed to make the mermaid smile though he wasn't sure why until she explained. 

"It's nice… the other man didn't like Chopy very much, but you seem kind." She was cut off when a distant screaming echoed into the area. The aquatic area was right beside the pirate one Ace realized so the mermaids and figures within could hear the king screaming for freedom every night. They both paused hearing it, staring each other down, and her expression grew slightly harsh as her gaze flicked to Ace's pocket and the papers lying there. "Did you know…" she started mildly, "that as long as he's been here, he's never once been out of that coffin?" 

"I didn't." Ace said as the screaming grew louder. She was implying that he should free the King, Ace hadn't realized anyone would think that way. But then, if she were listening to his screams every day… "Why don't you free him yourself?" he dared, and she turned away. 

"You don't know much how this museum works, do you, mister guard… perhaps you ought to." 

The mermaid said nothing else, and Ace made his exit just in time to hear a loud accented voice cry out. 

"MY FREEDOM! BEHOLD NIGHT GUARD! I HAVE ESCAPED YOUR TRAP!" and Chopy instantly jumped off his shoulder, flying toward the yeller at full speed. Ace found himself groaning and rushing after the animal. Temporarily he forgot what the mermaid had said, forgot about the mystery that even Teach hadn't solved. How did the museum come to life? And why did the mermaid imply the Monkey King was the biggest clue to finding out? 

* * *

Deep in the pirate exhibit, a camera shifted as the current night-guard, a fellow named Ace, desperately tried to calm a scientist as he waged war with a stuffed animal. The camera moved slowly, steadily, until it was focused on the coffin of the Pirate King and the golden fruit displayed nearby. Slowly, it zoomed in, taking in the details. The carvings, the design, it all matched. 

Nice Robin snapped her great-grandmother's journal closed as her finger drummed absently against her desk. The hacker known as the 'Devil Child' stared at her computer screen and debated her next step. Officially, she'd confirmed her theory, the coffin of the Monkey King displayed in the museum several islands away was the very same her grandmother discovered and wrote about. The designs carved into the thick stone resting place matched those her grandmother had copied onto paper. 

The Monkey King, the pirate king whose name had been lost to history, was in that museum. Present for the locals to observe and research during the daylight hours, and eternally trapped as the moon rose.

"Monkey D. Luffy." Robin murmured as she watched several exhibits wander loosely through the halls of the museum. Before she glanced at the words of her grandmother's journal.

_'I theorize the powers of the devil fruit Luffy speaks of gains power from the moon that drags upon the sea. The pulling of the tides and the life-bringing abilities must have something to do with each other-'_

The coffin shook caught by the camera, and Robin felt a twinge of something in her chest that hurt. Her great-mother had been mad, considered crazy in scientific circles, disowned by history for her insane words, insanity smothering her discoveries all because she insisted upon the Pirate king's coffin and the corpse without to be treated with respect. Because she'd spoke so passionately about the man hidden within who didn't deserve to be cut open and studied. 

Her great-grandmother had been utterly mad, her grandmother and mother agreed completely with that fact. Robin had as well, for devil fruits, magic powers, rubber humans, and reincarnation didn't make sense. 

But the dreams, Robin's constantly plaguing dreams which clung to her no matter how hard she tried to avoid it. If not for those dreams, then Robin would never have discovered the truth. The stories her great-grandmother spoke of were true. And no one would ever believe them. 

_"I WANT TO LIVE!"_

Robin shook away the scream echoing in her head, the nightmare that woke her, heart-pounding, that very night. The figure in her sleep that insisted that Robin listen, that she do something. It was like that woman with the cursed fate knew about her captain, knew that he needed her. Like that pirate lingering in Robin's soul could not abide Robin of the new generation doing nothing as he suffered. 

She wished the former existence would leave her be, magic being real or not. 

Robin reached up and removed her presence from the easily hackable museum security system. She wrenched her eyes and thoughts away from the pounding coffin and the figure trapped without. The same as the endlessly smiling teen in her dreams as he treated her with such care and kindness. It wasn't her business. She was a hacker at worst, she was not about to steal a body from a museum under the nose of its current night-guard.

She would suffer the same fate as her original soul, running endlessly from the law and enjoying every moment-

"Leave me be." Robin hissed, shoving the journal away, "it's my life now, you have no say." 

She was a hacker; she was no archaeologist pirate determined to uncover the history of the world. But a pair of intense eyes in the mirror refused to let her deny it; the history of her soul insisted on being heard. 

* * *

  
“So on a level between one and zombie rising from the dead, how tired are you?” Sabo said, tapping his pen idly to his desk.

Ace, face down on his desk, grumbled a sound before muttering: “museum artifact rising from the dead.”

Saying this, Ace’s breath evened out in sleep, leaving Sabo to watch his unconscious form. Sabo made a displeased face as it happened. At this rate, Ace was going to become suspected of having narcolepsy with how often he passed out in the middle of a sentence. And, if that didn’t occur, then at the very least, Ace would not graduate. He couldn’t do the homework because of the job and wasn’t paying attention to class either. It made Sabo wonder how Teach had juggled the same job and school when Ace couldn’t. Sabo would have thought the opposite of the pair of them considering how lazy Teach was. 

He heaved a sigh. Ace needed to find a balance between the job and school. Ideally, he ought to find a job that was part-time and in the afternoons, but thanks to his record, Ace had already been having a challenging time doing that. The job as a night guard had been a lucky fluke that neither of them suspected would occur again. Still, Ace was only barely scraping through his classes, and the schooling should take priority even if Ace desperately wanted away from Garp. 

“Doofenshmirtz!” Ace suddenly yelled, his head snapping up with a painful sounding crack. 

Arching a brow, Sabo asked: “what about him?” 

“That’s who it is! The guy chasing the-” Ace cut off suddenly, blushed, then continued, “the exhibit I mean. They have a mannequin of him in the museum, and it was driving me nuts that I couldn’t remember who he was.”

“Don’t they have an explanation in front of the display?” Sabo pointed out shrewdly, only to see Ace blush in intense embarrassment. Now, what was causing that?

“They… do… anyway, that’s not the point! I just remembered who he was.” Ace should have known him before; then again, it wasn’t like his face was all that publicly recognized. Doofenshmirtz was the scientist whose intelligence came second only to the mad Vegapunk. He was the inventor of countless things they used today and brought the world at large into the new age away from things like ‘snail phones,’ which had gone extinct. Though, discovering his identity or not, it didn’t explain the vendetta he had against Chopy. 

“Right…” Sabo said, “Ace we should talk about your new job-”

“Ace!” 

It was Teach. Sabo’s expression dangerously twitched as he shoved back the unnerved feelings about Teach. Something about the man was putting Sabo off, but he couldn’t say what or why. He’d been fine with Teach before but lately… he couldn’t explain it. Just like he couldn’t explain the dreams of fire and magma he’d been having, which always seemed to carry Teach’s distinct laugh. 

“Zehahaha! I told you it was fine! So long as you remember the list, you can even take a nap. Show the exhibits whose in charge, and they’ll let you nap no problem.” 

Sabo frowned in intense suspicion. Now that sentence made absolutely no sense. Sabo wanted to ask about it, but the unnerved feeling in his chest wouldn’t abate, so Sabo kept his mouth shut, hoping that when he and Ace hung out over the weekend, he could broach the subject properly. 

“I’ll see you later, Sabo! I’m going to try and catch a cat nap before my shift.” 

“Good luck.” He answered easily, trying not to twitch when Teach followed Ace’s form with his beady little eyes. 

* * *

Ace waved a distant exhausted goodbye to the day crew as he locked the door behind them. The last of the workers was officially gone, and his shift was officially to begin. With a large yawn, Ace forced a watery eye open and checked the time on his cell. 

Teach had offered Ace a few suggestions to help Ace with the new job. They balanced on top of his 'list' which was becoming more and more clear with each day. One of the suggestions was to know exactly what time the sunset was each day. Ace had done exactly that.

_"It'll become more difficult the closer to winter we get, you have less time to prepare. Especially since the day crew takes their time and their clueless about what happens at night."_

_"Why don't they know?"_

_"Eh, it's complicated. Just trust me, Ace, it's better they don't."_

_"I guess."_

It was still earlier in the year thankfully, so Ace had an hour or so before the sun properly set to finish locking down the more hazardous exhibits. As such, Ace stuffed his cell into his pocket and went about his business while trying his best to remain awake. The cat-nap he'd stolen had not been nearly long enough; he knew that for sure. Slowly Ace went through his tasks; he locked up the king - going so far as to pull on the locket to make sure the coffin was locked tight, as Teach suggested. Apparently, Ace didn't want to know how dangerous the king could be after escaping. Teach implied it had happened once before and wasn't pretty. He closed the Mink section and shut the power off in the area using the breaker. 

Locking down a few other areas, Ace stopped in the science division with a box he'd carted to work to wait for the sun to drop behind the horizon. After realizing who the mad scientist was, Ace had a minor burst of chaotic energy. On the way to the museum, he'd stopped in a parts shop and had bought a box of random bits of bobs. All rather cheap. The reason for buying it, however, had come from a brief, rather random, thought. 

Doofenshmirtz was a scientist of high renown. Ace couldn't help but think a man that smart was at war with a stuffed reindeer… it must have taken intense boredom for that to occur. Then Ace found himself thinking… what if he gave the man something to do?

Ace glanced to the side and saw the sun finally vanish behind the horizon. Something brushed over his skin a moment later, no doubt the magic that brought everything to life, and the museum came to life. Ace stood as the scientists all stretched as if they'd taken a long nap before going about their 'morning' rituals. All but Doofenshmirtz, who sat up and found Ace feet away from his position. 

"Night-guard… can I help you?" the man asked suspiciously. 

"Hey." Ace gestured to the box at his feet, "so, let's make a deal?" 

Doofenshmirtz glanced at it, then his eyes narrowed in suspicion and a hint of curiosity, which told Ace this was going fine. "A deal? Do elaborate Night-guard." 

"I'll keep it simple," Ace nudged the box toward the man, "don't cause any destruction in the museum, and you can have this and more to experiment with." Ace's desires were simple, he wanted this job to be easy, he wanted a damned nap, and he wanted to get out of Garp's house. The first step to all that was to have the exhibits working with him rather than against him. Most of the exhibits could be locked up for a bit of peace. But if Ace wanted to actually sleep during his shift, he'd need a bit more control and agreements. Starting with the chaotic Doofenshmirtz whom Teach claimed had built an actual ocean in his exhibit once. Thankfully for Teach, it had been before his time. 

Doofenshmirtz eyed the box as if wanting to see what was within, and Ace knew he'd won. There was no way the man could get anything to experiment with unless he worked with Ace. He'd agree simply to do so. Which meant for Ace, it was on exhibit down, countless to go. Smirking Ace distantly wondered if the king could be convinced in a similar way. Ace dismissed a moment later, it was safer to just leave the man be as Teach said. An odd thought, however, considering Ace had never done the 'safe thing' in his life. 

"Agreed." Doofenshmirtz said pulling Ace from his thoughts. The man, without giving Ace a second to bask in his victory, surged forward and snatched the box from the ground. "Now shoo," he waved his hand at Ace, "I have an experiment to complete." And dove into the box. 

Ace gave a laugh and slipped away, heading randomly. He hadn't prepared anything else for the afternoon, though if he truly wanted to work with the exhibit, he'd start getting to know them. Perhaps the mermaid, whose name escaped him, could help. That in mind, Ace turned toward the aquatic section, never noticing a small hoofed form slip out from the shadows where it had hidden the night before. 

Chopy, as he had been named, often hid in the science section during the day. The area had plenty of little hide-aways for his small stuffed body, and the large lab coats doubled as cover if he was positioned properly during the day. As a result, well, Doofenshmirtz and the others got annoyed at him. He was hiding under them, and Doofenshmirtz was unfortunately allergic to fur, which was the cause of their many battles. 

Climbing into Doofenshmirtz's sight, Chopy gave a chatter at the man reminding him of their agreement. An agreement that resulted in the artificial ocean all those years ago and continued even years later. Doofenshmirtz scowled as he was reminded of it. Twisting a few pieces of the parts the new night-guard - far better than the previous in his opinion - Doofenshmirtz pulled a clock apart and handed Chopy the metal' hands.' 

Chopy gave a thankful nod as he clutched the metal awkwardly in his hoofs. 

"This one is better." Doofenshmirtz then said as he admired the cogs within the clock itself, "That man never would have imagined we were anything but plastic and fluff." He tapped his own head and it made a distinctly plastic sound. "But, he's naive." 

'Not if you don't betray his trust.' Chopy seemed to say in response to that. 

Doofenshmirtz shrugged lightly and put the clock aside to see what else he'd been given mind already furious at work. Perhaps, if he kept the peace the Night-guard would be willing to smuggle a journal into the museum. Doofenshmirtz always worked better with blueprints. "Trust is not something I can afford, not after them. Not after what they did." His arm lifted, and he brushed his hands at the plastic of his wrists. He scowled deeply and turned his back to the reindeer. 

"Be on your way, but don't blame me if you're thrown away for this stunt. I shan't mourn you… Chopper." 

Clicking his tongue Chopy, as the Night-guard currently called him turned away, trotted into the museum, his hooves tight on something that could perhaps work after all this time. He bypassed the night-guard, Ace, and gave a short little wave with a free hoof. The other held the metal hands of the clock at his side, his thick fur disguising it. The night-guard gave a little wave and wandered off calmly solving problems. Chopper smothered his guilt at seeing that. 

But the thought remained; Teach had never bothered. 

* * *

Ace wandered along the halls of the museum. Yawning every three sections and willing his eyes to stay open, he chatted with different exhibits, most of which spoke perfect Common, which Ace found secretly surprising. After the minks, he'd expected some exhibits like the cavemen to be… stupid frankly, but they weren't. Most spoke elegantly clearly having picked up the language… somehow. 

"It's from the visitors." Explained a painting of a young woman on a swing. As she spoke, a wind that didn't exist made her hair flow, and she tucked it behind her ear. 

"The visitors?" Ace's nose scrunched up, and the woman smiled kindly. 

"We… aren't alive, but we still understand what happens during the day. It's… hard to explain." Her hands moved helplessly before they settled on her lap, "we learn from the people who visit us, who pass us and speak their thoughts. We hear… even if we cannot." 

Ace's brows pinched together. They… did they hear during the day? 

"We ain't inanimate ya know! We're alive… most of the time!" 

Ace turned and spotted the bust of a statue behind him. It was perhaps the oddest statue Ace had ever seen. What must have been three forms had clearly been worn away by time, leaving behind a single figure. A helmet was visible, and a tongue longer than a lizard fell from the statue's mouth. Its eyes were bugged out and swung as it attempted to speak with a clear lisp due to how long the tongue was. 

He wasn't sure what expression he pulled upon seeing it, but Ace was rather sure it wasn't flattering in the least as the statue's face grew furious!

"What' sh that look for!" 

"Sorry." Ace apologetically said instinctively as he attempted to subtly read the display to see who the statue was and where it had come from. It read quite simply 'god Usopp,' and was apparently a replica of a statue present in the country of Dressrosa. Come to think of it, Ace was sure he'd seen something similar in a travel magazine once. As far as he understood it, the statue used to have three well known figures. The saviors of the country, two of which had included gladiators. Unfortunately an invasion and a war had destroyed two of the three statues and their likeness had been forgotten by time. "Why were you carved like that?"

He wasn't really all that sorry. 

"A tale of my construction!" Behind him, the paintings all groaned, and Ace had a feeling he'd made a mistake in asking. "You see! I was a god! A rescuer of the people of Dressrosa-"

A crash cut him off and caused Ace to cringe. It shook the museum and caused Ace to stagger slightly. Wide-eyed Ace spun on the spot, trying to see where it came from, but he was as clueless as the rest of the exhibits, at least for a moment. A second passed, two, then a voice yelled out, sounding victorious and familiar. Ace's very being seemed to bask in the noise before reality crashed into him. 

"What was that?" he said.

From the corner of his eye, a figure appeared in the girls painting. A feathered hat, elegant curls, and neon pink hair, the painting of the pirate Charlotte had appeared. Apparently, they could move through each other's paintings, Ace hadn't known that, but in retrospect, it as obvious. After all, all the pirate paintings had been empty the few times he'd visited the king at night… the king.

Charlotte whispered into the swinger's ear, and as she did, her eyes slid to Ace victoriously. Ace, living with Garp after so long, could easily read her lips as she spoke two dooming words. 

'He's free.'

Ace had no idea what insanity possessed him. Perhaps it was some secret thrill of adventure; perhaps it was just the madness of his father finally catching up. Or perhaps it was something in his soul deep down telling him to do it. 

He sprinted from the spot and descended the stairs at a rate unfathomable. He rushed for the pirate section at full speed and rounded the corner within seconds. Ace cast one single look within and realized what happened. Chopy, the reindeer, stood beside the king's coffin with the lock in his hooves. The coffin lid was on the ground, and the coffin itself was empty. The reindeer had picked the damned lock. How had it even managed that?!

"Where is he?" Ace demanded feeling something other in his chest. Something alien but still him. Something… protective.

Chopy chattered and looked away from Ace; in his hooves, he clutched the key and… was that a clock hand? That little bugger.

"Chopy!" he snapped, "if he's outside the museum when the sun rises then he's going to turn to dust!" Ace hadn't personally seen it happen, but Teach had, and he'd been quite descriptive to the event. To that, Chopy actually hesitated. His small eyes darted to the window and back to Ace. They had hours yet before the sun rose, but still, the point remained. Regardless, the look was enough, especially when a loud cry sounded down the hall. 

The king had escaped, he was heading for the doors, and Ace didn't even know what he looked like when alive!

Scowling at the animal, Ace turned and sprinted out of the room. He rushed past the exhibits, the gossip of the kings escape spreading like wildfire around the museum. The exhibits watched him curious, judging his actions. Ace ignored them, he was used to doing that just as he was used to the judgmental looks. Instead, Ace rushed down the stairs and hurled himself around the corner heading for the front door and caught the tail end of something red. 

Ace pushed his speed as he heard the front doors open. Ace passed little mind to how that happened when he was sure he'd locked them, and rushed after the figure into the streets. 


	3. Monkey King

Trapped. Endlessly trapped. For years upon years, unable to move, breathing the same air and starving. More than once, he’d starved to death trapped in a box sealed by sea-stone, a box that should have been his eternal resting place, a place of protection, but had become his endless prison. 

His memories… it had been so long that he scarcely remembered the name of his crew. More than once, he’d found himself forgetting their faces, he’d already lost the sound of their voices but their names… he tried to speak their names every night so he would not lose them. 

Franky. Robin. Sanji. Nami. Jimbe. Chopper. Usopp. Brook. Zoro.

Ace. Sabo. Marco. Law. 

Luffy. 

His name was Luffy, and he couldn’t forget it. 

Franky had been the one to build the coffin, Luffy knew it even if he hadn’t been alive when it had happened. He knew without a doubt that it was Franky’s skill that had carved the elegant swirls into his coffins. Though Luffy no longer recalled what they looked like, it had been too long since he’d been outside the coffin. Not since he’d been discovered and the life-fruit had activated. 

It had been Robin’s descendant that found him… it didn’t surprise Luffy that it had been. What did surprise him was her betrayal, what surprised him was that she was the cause of his hell. The reason he had become eternally trapped. Awakened into life every night, forbidden from passing on, forbidden from moving. Forced to starve. 

Luffy screamed out every night. First, with threats, with demands. First, with Nico Olivia’s name on his lips. Then… then with pleads, with desperation, and fear. He should have been the freest in the world, he’d lived his entire life with that goal in mind. Pirate king. A free man. Trapped in death. 

“FREE ME… please,” Luffy couldn’t lift his arms, they were trapped at his side. He couldn’t shift his legs or bend his knees. He couldn’t move his head. And yet large gaping claw marks lay where he could reach as if he could eventually claw through his prison if given the time. Years later and Luffy had yet to manage it, but it didn’t stop him. 

Luffy knew the day he’d forgotten the taste of Sanji’s cooking, he’d screamed his voice until his voice box no longer worked. The day after, his voice had been healed by the life-fruit’s curse. It had been a repeated event when Luffy forgot the sound of Brook’s music. The silence caused by what he’d done allowed Luffy to hear the man who guarded him. Who ignored his pleas and kept him imprisoned. 

How cursed he had become that it was Teach’s voice and laugh that surpassed time and replaced the voices of his own Nakama. 

That nearly broke him… nearly.

And then there was a click of a lock, audible despite his screams. Luffy was silenced, breathing in and out before he dared to hope. Before he pushes his hands against the coffin’s lid, against the thick groves carved into the stone by his nails. And Luffy pushed. 

He was free. 

And then he was running. 

He crashed odd characters without seeing them, fled down stairs without even using them. He sprinted until he located a door, and ignoring the pounding feet behind him, Luffy sprinted into the chilled air of the night. 

All at once, goosebumps raced across his skin, and every hair on end stood up as he inhaled his first breath of fresh air in decades. The distinct scent of sea-water coated his nose as he breathed deep. The ocean. The sea. It had been so long as he’d be anywhere near it. 

Luffy turned on the spot, expanding his senses outward. He smelled the air and took a step. Behind him, a door burst open, and a figure in dark blue came out of the very place Luffy had been trapped within, but Luffy paid him no mind. He was free, and he was going to respond to the call of the ocean. He raced away, flying down the strange streets and the event stranger buildings. 

He was so close. The salt air calmed him, and the sound of waves could be heard. The ocean he had become king of, the freest place in the world, the endless blue was right there after all these years. He just had to climb the hill, and he’d see it. 

“Wait!” 

Just a little further and he’d been able to see the ocean and-

Ace raced after the pirate king, he’d caught only a glimpse as the man paused outside the museum before sprinting away toward the ocean. From the brief glimpse Ace had gotten, the man was younger than Ace had assumed. Not young, but also not old. Which meant… it meant the king had died before growing old, and Ace smothered the sudden sadness that thought brought up. Instead, he focused on the tail end of the long cloak on the king’s shoulders. 

“Hell, this guy is fast!” Ace complained, pushing himself so he could keep up. He honestly could only see the man's distant figure, and his yells were clearly not being heeded. Though Ace still tried. He had a few hours before the sun rose yes, but if Ace didn’t catch the king in time, it wouldn’t matter. Especially considering how fast the bugger was. 

Thankfully there was no one on the streets due to the hour, beyond a few night-owls celebrating the nightlife of the island. On another upside, the king was clearly going for the ocean, and eventually, he’d be forced to stop allowing Ace to catch up. 

Just as Ace thought this, he watched the king suddenly go limp. Like his strings had been cut, the king collapsed. He hit the ground with a thud and stayed there unmoving. Following Ace tripped over his own feet as he slowed his own pace in confusion. Slowed or not, the king did not rise again, and Ace was quickly able to catch up. Reaching the man, Ace squatted at the king's side and got a better look at the man from up close.

Taking in the scars, Ace observed the man and… he looked limp, eerily so. There was no ‘peaceful’ expression of sleep. No sign he was even breathing in fact. 

Ace reached forward and placed his hand on the king's face just under the nose. He felt no sign of breath and quickly cast a wary eye around him. He thanked the hour again, no one was around to see what was happening, no one to see what Ace was beginning to suspect was a dead body. To double-check, Ace pressed his fingers to the king's pulse point and recoiled at the texture to the man's skin. It was… rubbery and ice cold. Freezing in death despite having been moving only moments before. 

He shot a look at the horizon, but there was still no sign of the sun. So what caused the king to drop dead like this? And what was Ace supposed to do about it?

“Damn.” Ace debated his options before settling quickly. He’d be a hundred levels of fired if the king wasn’t in his coffin when the museum opened, so dead body or not, Ace was getting him back to the museum. Stooping down, Ace placed his arms under the king's armpits and started to lift him onto his back. Once the man was situated, Ace took a bracing step forward- and the king screamed on his back. 

Ace cried out in shock and hurled the man away from him with a yelp. The king then bounced on the concrete and gave a furious yell. 

“What was that for!? Wait… where am I?” The king glanced around, and Ace was reminded firmly of how young the king looked with the almost helpless expression on his face. He scanned the area asking for himself: “the ocean… where?” and his eyes hit the hill leading to the ocean. Ace followed the look and frowned before looking back at the king. The man was… more gentle seeming than Ace expected. 

“You were trying to get to the ocean?” he asked. The king's eyes snapped to him, and his mouth dropped open, shock, clear and simple, was etched across the man's face, but Ace couldn’t fathom why.

“Ace?” the man spoked his name in a tone so vulnerable that Ace almost felt bad for being confused. Because they had not been introduced and yet the man looked as though Ace was something precious. No one had ever… ever looked at Ace like that before. He didn’t know what to do with it. 

“Yes? How’d you know… ah, you heard it during the day, didn’t you.” He answered his own question recalling his earlier conversation with the paintings. “Yeah, I’m Ace, and… actually, what’s your name? History didn’t really record it.” 

“History…” the king finally looked away from Ace as he scanned the area around him. Likely seeing it for the first time. Ace wondered how much was different considering when the era the man came from. “You’re not… you’re…” there was a flash of sorrow in his expression before it was smothered. “I’m Luffy… Monkey D. Luffy.”

“Ah!” Ace pointed at him, understanding, “that’s why they call you the Monkey king! It’s your last name!” 

Luffy’s nose scrunched in displeasure before seemingly deciding to ignore Ace’s comment. Instead, he stood expression bored as he went to speak, as he took a single step forward. This time, however, Ace saw exactly what happened. He watched Luffy’s eyes go utterly blank, the life draining out of them as he dropped on the spot. As he died. Ace quickly found it the creepiest thing he’d ever seen in his life and still didn’t know why it was happening, but this time he could assume how to fix it. 

Stepping forward, Ace grabbed Luffy by the arms and dragged him a few feet from the hill, and like magic, Luffy gasped back into life. Ace and Luffy found themselves staring at each other. Then the latter scowled and sat up with a snarl of fury. 

“Now it doesn’t let me see the ocean!” he spat the words and Ace’s confusion built. 

“What won’t?” 

“The fruit!” Luffy punched the ground, and Ace paled when it cracked. He took it back, Luffy was not gentle, definitely not! 

Keeping some distance between himself and the strongest man in history’s knowledge, Ace asked: “Fruit?” 

And Luffy’s stomach gave an almighty growl, the first to match the sound of Ace’s own hunger. Luffy pouted to the noise and placed a hand on his stomach even as his eyes lingered on the hill that hid the ocean beyond it. “Hungryyy” the strongest man in history whined.

So Ace offered the only thing he could think of at the moment. “Want to find a twenty-four-hour place?”

* * *

* * *

Luffy, as it turned out, ate just like Ace did. He was basically a bottomless pit, and Ace was rather relieved someone like him existed. Though he was surprised, a living corpse could eat in the first place, especially since Ace did not want to think about where it went if the eaten was dead half the time. 

“So… fruit?” Ace asked after Luffy slowed down slightly. Another reason to thank the hour, no one but the workers were around to see how Luffy’s stomach actually bulged like a balloon with the food he’d eaten. 

Luffy swallowed a chicken leg, bone and all, whole. Before turning toward Ace with an oddly fond smile and he began to explain. He spoke of a power that existed in history, fruits with swirls all over them and tasted ‘like the most disgusting thing you could ever imagine.’ Each one granted a different ability, inhuman and unimaginable powers. 

“The fruit in your exhibit.” Ace was able to connect the dots quickly, “it’s what is bringing everything to life at night! But why only at night? And what does it have to do with why you keep dying out here?” 

“I can’t swim.” Luffy offered in loose explanation, he only elaborated when Ace scowled, “devil fruit users can’t swim, the ocean takes our energy. That’s why we can’t use our powers in the ocean, or with sea-stone touching us.” 

“So… if the ocean weakens a devil-fruit user, then you can’t reach the ocean because the ocean is stopping this fruit from bringing you to life. You literally can’t go near the ocean… ever… oh.” Ace deflated as Luffy looked away from him. No wonder he was upset; he was a pirate that could never sail again. He couldn’t even see the ocean because of how the island was built. Hills surrounded the ocean to keep back the storm waters, what protected the island had become a barrier against Luffy. “Sorry.” 

Luffy shrugged, not responding, and Ace tried to think of another topic, anything. 

“So… are you uh… gonna come back to the museum with me?” 

Luffy’s expression crossed from sorrow to disgust; clearly he didn’t like the idea of the museum itself, and Ace couldn’t blame him. But he could soothe him. “You’ll die again when the sun comes up. It’s better if you’re in the museum by then, so you can go back to your coffin-” 

“NEVER!” Luffy stood so sharply that the dozens of plates piled nearby went crashing to the ground. Ace winced recoiling back to they didn’t crash into him. 

“Hey!” and the owner yelled in complete offense and anger for what Luffy had done. Ace turned toward the man apologetic, swearing he’d pay to replace the pile. It would cost plenty, but it wasn’t like Ace could cut and run. Everyone knew his grandfather, and his crime would be traced back to him in a short period. 

“Serious, we’re really sorry!” Ace swore, and the man scoffed, hand on his hip. 

“You might be, but that friend of you clearly isn’t.”

“No, Luffy is-” Ace turned and swore. 

Luffy was gone.

* * *

Eventually, Ace had to give up. Monkey D. Luffy had vanished, and he was quite effectively fucked. The pirate king had disappeared, and once Ace soothed the restaurant owner’s ire for the shattered plates, the man had been long gone. 

Really Luffy couldn’t leave the island, but he could hide, and with the few hours left before the sun rose, it was unlikely Ace would find him. Ace had sprinted along the streets, calling for the man. He’d looked high and low before the sky started to lighten and Ace had to cut his losses, which were many. The day crew would be arriving soon, and Ace had to admit that they’d be coming to a coffin without a body. Ace couldn’t even get away with hoping they didn’t open the coffin and wouldn’t notice. They opened it most afternoons, so Luffy’s body was on display. 

He’d be caught within hours with a corpse missing and no explanation to give.

He was ten different levels of fired or worse. 

Ace was fucked, as he said. 

It could have been worse he told himself as he reached the museum and discovered Doofenshmirtz was waiting. The scientist was leaning against the door with Chopy, the little bastard, standing at his side. They, as Ace found, had kept the rest of the museum inside and controlled. Apparently, the general shock of the king escaping caused the exhibits to want to gossip and theorize instead of cause chaos. So Ace was only going to be fired due to the missing body and not an entire museum, which would have gotten him arrested without a doubt.

“Find him?” Doofenshmirtz asked, and Ace scowled. 

“Does it look like it?” 

The scientist scoffed slightly and stepped back from the door. “Well, nice knowing you night-guard, I hope the next one is better qualified.” 

Ace flipped the plastic bastard off, and the man laughed, wandering off. Chopy, at the same time, gave a mournful chatter before heading in as well. Both moving to return to their positions before the sun appeared and returned them to inanimate objects. Ace heaved a sigh dropping on the stairs outside the museum. Perhaps he’d only be fired if he pretended someone stole a body… instead of the numerous priceless artifacts in the same exhibit. 

“Damnit.” Ace dropped his head back and looked up at the lightening sky. 

“I have a few demands.” And snapped it back with a jerk. 

Luffy was standing in the street. The pirate king, Monkey D. Luffy, had actually come back. 

“Demands?” he croaked in shock.

Luffy inclined his head and started to list them. “You will get rid of the lock, throw it in the ocean, or destroy it. I don’t care which, but it’s never to lock me in again.” Ace blinked, realizing the exact reason Luffy had run. It didn’t connect in his head until then, but the man must have been afraid, afraid of being locked up again when he’d finally gotten free. But, of course he had. Ace couldn’t imagine what it had been like trapped like that.

“Second, I want meat. So you’ll bring me dinner tomorrow night… lots of it.” Considering how much Luffy ate that night, the request also wasn’t shocking. However, Ace could barely afford to pay for his own meals, let alone pay for someone who ate almost more than he did. Despite that, Ace nodded in agreement, he could try at least. 

“Third. There’s a few people I want you to look for.” Now that one didn’t make sense, but with the sun rising steadily, Ace nodded. He needed Luffy in the museum, and he needed it now before the king dropped dead on the street.

“Great, sure, I agree. Can you get in now?” Ace’s eyes danced between the sky and the king, almost begging him with his eyes to hurry. 

Miraculously, Luffy agreed, and he stepped forward just as the sun appeared on the horizon. Luffy collapsed on Ace, his corpse sending them both to the ground. Ace was left with a body that he had to cart all the way back to its exhibit, and he heaved an exhausted sigh. 

“Not paid enough. I am not paid enough for this.”

* * *

  
Robin gasped. She woke with the lingering touch of bones on her hand; as in her sleep, a skeletal figure took her hands, twirling her in a delightful dance. Robin sang the words to a pirate song long forgotten by the ages. She could remember the feel of the language on her tongue but not the sound of them. 

"Yo ho ho ho," Robin mumbled into her pillow as she clearly understood a song in a dead language. "I shouldn't be able to understand this." She rolled over and grabbed her own journal to quickly write out the dream and the tune. All the while, she realized the truth, her dreams were growing clearer every night. More so once she'd seen the coffin of the pirate king in that video. Robin suspected her dreams were leading her toward that man. As little as she believed in fate, Robin was not going to deny her curiosity. Robin wanted answers, and she was going to get them.

Tossing her legs over the side of her bed, Robin got a start on her day. Yawning she ventured out of her bedroom through her apartment, she shuffled along bleary-eyed until she started her coffee machine. As it started, Robin winced slightly, a memory of a blond twirling toward her with a coffee in hand formed, and she waved it away. Another event the past Robin had never lived. The current one was plagued by them, and it was growing worse and worse every year. 

It started with her great-grandmother's journal, reading it had been the catalyst and the cause of her dreams. Ever since she heard about the pirate king and the devil fruits, Robin found she couldn't sleep. Nor could she live a regular life, not when she was forced still with alien memories. 

She groaned as her coffee finished brewing. Robin was thankful she did not have a regular job, she doubted she could hold one with the memories taking over. Instead of working, Robin hacked funds into her account and lived comfortably as a result. 

Robin wandered back to her room and her computer with a building frown. She lived comfortably, yes, but Robin wanted more. She wanted to be able to leave her apartment without worrying a memory would stop her in the middle of the road. Or that Robin could possess proper friends that wouldn't judge her for what she couldn't help. People that wouldn't look at her like she was mad.

"At this rate, it will never happen." She said to herself as she dropped into her chair. Setting her coffee down, she instinctively hacked back into the museum. The past few mornings, she'd gone over the previous nights' footage curious despite herself. The new Night-guard was an interested individual, but Robin's attention was on the stuffed reindeer and the pirate king's coffin. As she did, Robin silently wondered how exactly she could fix her problem.

Her first instinct… was that perhaps she ought to purposely look into the king. Maybe if they met, something would change.

"Wait… what?" Robin frowned as she reviewed the camera footage for the previous night. There was something wrong with the cameras in the museum. She'd hacked into the in the same way, but she couldn't move them anymore and the footage… it was old. She could tell that at a glimpse, but many wouldn't. Frowning she rewound the cameras only to find the night before had also been changed. Though to Robin it looked like a novice had done it, the fact was that someone had and they'd done it to get noticed. 

"The night-guard?" she mused, noting he vanished from the camera for a long while, but she dismissed the thought in short order. The young man didn't seem the type. Still, if it wasn't him like she assumed, then who and why? What was the goal? And why change the footage to look as though… Robin's eyes went wide. To appear as though the museum didn't come to life! That was what had happened. 

"Why, though?"

Someone had messed with the security cameras in the museum. But Robin didn't know for what reason. However, she was going to find out. She'd put it off long enough, she was going to push for change.

It was time she took a vacation.

* * *

Remember, he had to remember. Don't forget them. No matter what happened to him- he could not forget them. Robin's dark jokes, Zoro's obsessive training, Usopp's stories, Chopper's laughter, Franky's inventions, Sanji's cooking, Nami's teasing, his name was Luffy- Luffy- Luffy-

_"Play Binks Sake, Brook!"_

Remember them, remember them, everything he could. Hoard those moments like treasure as he forgot the feel of ocean on his skin. Forgot the sensation of the spray of the sea. Of his blood pounding through his body, the Sunny's wood, of the sound a violin's strings.

Don't forget them- 

Don't forget me.

Don't forget us-

Luffy shoved the coffin lid open and exhaled in relief when it moved. Ace had promised and hadn't betrayed him. He'd not returned the lock to its place, hadn't trapped Luffy when he'd been at his mercy. Ace had kept their agreement, which he hadn't even finished laying out.

Ace.

Luffy stepped free of his coffin and took in its detail, the craftwork Franky had put into it with care. Ace's presence had been a shock. To see his long-dead brother standing before him, it had stolen away Luffy's breath and refused to relinquish it. Not until Ace had expressed absolutely no recognition to Luffy. He'd been forced to accept the truth, the man before him wore Ace's face but possessed none of their history. Ace, like Teach, had been reincarnated. 

It had destroyed what little hope Luffy held. A dream only revived by how familiar Ace acted. They weren't as close as they'd once been - and never would without a shared history - but Ace was still Ace. Different as he was. This Ace was lighter, not burdened with the Gol Roger as a father, not dragged down by the harsh words of random people telling Ace to his face that he did not deserve to live. His eyes were younger, more innocent than Luffy had ever seen his brother look. And he'd… deferred to Luffy in a way an older brother shouldn't. That was likely because Ace was a basic civilian now, he had no strength to his name, and when compared to Luffy, Ace was an ant. 

Luffy would likely be adjusting to that for a long time. 

Adjusting and learning about Ace… that was why he'd returned. Luffy could have just stayed away, he could have just let his body fall in the streets. Could have let himself decompose and never return to the life-fruit's area of effect. He could have passed on returning his soul to the ocean of reincarnation as Ace's had. But then… then Luffy decided, sea or not, he wanted to get to know this new Ace. 

Following the spirit of Ace's presence with his haki, Luffy returned to the museum and decided to give the stranger wearing his brother's face a chance. 

He hadn't been disappointed… much. 

Luffy lifted his gaze from Franky's work to the damned fruit. He couldn't eat it even if he wanted to, Luffy still possessed his rubber fruit even in death, and no fruit user could eat a second. Though the assumed 'you're going to die if you do it,' might not really apply to him all things considering. 

He turned away from it and wandered away from the coffin. Luffy was free now, true he couldn't sail, and his Nakama were… were long gone. But he was still mostly alive and could do whatever he wanted. So it was high time he explored the museum and found himself a brand new adventure, with new Nakama and Ace's reincarnation. After all, better that than…

Luffy shook himself and left the exhibit, trying not to think the negative thoughts attempting to drown him.

* * *

Ace dropped the bag of meat beside Luffy's coffin and frowned at the open casket. The lid had been carelessly dumped beside it, and the king was gone. Ace hadn't taken that long to arrive, but Luffy had clearly moved on. Then again, Ace would be impatient too all things considering. 

Leaving the bag beside the coffin for Luffy to find later, Ace found himself looking up at the display behind the king at the fruit. It didn't look edible at all, but Luffy claimed it was in a loose meaning of the word. The fruit was golden, looking almost like an apple. It had thick red gems in the stem giving it a priceless look, no doubt the reason it had been placed in the museum with Luffy. Still, while priceless looking or not, Ace couldn't believe it had so much power. It possessed the ability to bring everyone in the museum alive every night. 

"Just like a woman." Ace laughed to himself and turned away from it. He wasn't tempted by it. Not because he'd be fired if it went missing or arrested. But instead, because it was a boring power, death was a part of life, and he didn't care overly much about bringing things to life. Instead, he'd rather had something like… like fire! To turn into flames and control it. Now that would be a fantastic ability. 

Maybe it did. Luffy had said the fruits were numerous, and anything could be a power, so surely fire could be as well?

Ace moved through the museum lazily, oddly Luffy's awakening seemed to bring a substantial level of peace to the exhibits. None of them were causing any real chaos that he could see. Cavemen ignored him as he passes. Animals paid him little mind as they chased each other - and Ace wondered what would happen if one actually caught another. Chopy smirked at him as he darted passed and nodded his way with the Doofenshmirtz nowhere in sight. Eventually, Ace made his way to the Alabastan exhibit and found a large gathering of displays crowding the room. 

He had no idea what was actually going on. Still, Ace was quickly able to spot Luffy, who was sitting beside a man dressed as a Pharaoh. The two were chatting, but Ace didn't approach. Instead, he slipped to the side to see what was going on. 

In the center of the room where two figures, a woman and a man clashing weapons. Their outfits left little to the imagination, but it was likely ceremonial, or perhaps that was just how the two were dressed when on display. Regardless the pair circled each other, one with a wickedly cursed sword and the other with a pole-arm. When one jabbed, the other blocked. A parry, a dodge, the clash of metal- Ace stepped closer. This was real, a real-time battle that was unlike all the training he'd been in as a child. This was no harmless spar for children, it was real and- the man cried out as the sword sliced straight through his arm revealing plastic. It brutally reminded Ace that these people weren't alive, yet they seemed so realistic. The sweat coating their sun, the victory and challenge in their gazes, the focus and the taunting, the teasing, and the roar of the crowd.

"Careful Habin lest we need to remelt your arm once again." The woman taunted. Her hair swung, replica hair ornaments clicking as she dropped to the floor when the pole-arm sliced over her head, but she only smirked, loving the battle for what it was. 

"What was that?" the man demanded furiously and stabbed outward, cutting a piece of her leg. "If I recall correctly it was you who lost their leg, not I!"

Ace snorted quietly before looking back toward the Pharaoh and Luffy. The pirate king clearly got on with the man well, and it had happened fast. In fact, most of the people around him seemed to respect him. Even as he watched, the Pharaoh took his attention from the warriors to speak to Luffy. His focus entirely on the king, instead of the exciting battle occurring in front of him. Even Ace… Ace was just as focused on the king instead of the fight.

As the pair spoke, Luffy's lips quirked in a smile, but it seemed too… small to be a true one. A face like Luffy's, Ace expected the man to smile wholly and completely instead of the tiny thing he was showing now.

"Watch out-"

Luffy's eyes flew wide, but he was sluggish in his reaction. One minute Ace was standing there observing the king; the next, he was glancing down at the bloodied wound in his side.

Ace pressed his lips together, watching a patch of blood form in his side and sighed. He'd been stabbed. While he'd been looking away, the ancient weapons of two Alabastan warriors clashed, and one shattered. The shards of which pierced straight through several plastic bodies, and Ace's real one.

"Well… fuck." He muttered unhappily as the room freaked.

"Get a doctor!" Luffy's voice became absolute law as Ace sank to the ground and eyed his uniform. He knew well enough not to mess with the metal in his side but a morbid sense of curiosity caused him to lift his shirt- and yup, that was a stab wound. Didn't appear lethal though. Giving the uniform up for the trash, Ace ripped the fabric and swiftly pulled the jacket over his head, tossing it to the side. The undershirt followed and was likewise dumped while the exhibits rushed around in a panic. 

Checking the wound, Ace missed Luffy freezing solid behind him. Missed the pained expression cross his face as he realized there was a more noticeable difference between Ace and Ace. And none was so evident as the bare skin of his back.

Shaking it off, Luffy dropped beside him, from standing to cross-legged in an instant. He gave Ace a cheery smile, but Ace didn't need to be an expert to realize it was false. A broad smile fit him much better… fit? Ace hadn't seen the man smile like that, so why was he so confident that it had been the case. Ace rolled his eyes at the pirate king as, of all people, the scientist Doofenshmirtz arrived. He held a device made of the parts Ace had brought him the day before, the item looked more like a gun than anything else, and the man announced proudly. "Not to worry! I have the perfect Inator for this tragedy!" 

A moment later, Chopy, the reindeer, darted in with an actual first aid kit to Luffy's apparently relief. Ace at that time realized he worked for a madhouse and couldn't help but palm his face.

"Are you kidding?!" Ace almost whined, almost. 

* * *

Eventually, Ace had acknowledged that he couldn’t go to a hospital because he couldn’t explain his wound without sounding mad. So he’d allowed the insane scientist to poke around at his side to repair the damage. Thankfully, the ‘inator’ was more to restore the ancient weapons and the exhibits, and Ace’s wound had been simply stitched… by a reindeer. He… he didn’t want to think about it occurring. Instead, Ace deleted the event from his memory and did his best to ignore it as he headed to school the very next day. 

Though Chopy, as translated by Luffy, claimed Ace should avoid physical activity for the near future. Ace figured that meant Gym class when it was actually meant that he ought to be on bed rest. 

On the upside, the exhibits didn’t cause Ace too much issue as the sun rose, and they even insisted he rest until that moment. So Ace took the wound as a victory for his sleep schedule and freeing Luffy to be the best accident of his life. He couldn’t wait to shove it into Teach’s smug face either. 

“Did you hear someone finally caught this rare species of bird on film?” 

Ace glanced up from where his head was tucked into his arm. Sabo sat beside him, casually flipping through the news on his phone, he was reading some article or another. As Ace watched, Sabo turned his phone over and showed off the still picture. “It looks just like the bird you used to draw as a kid. Didn’t your mom find you a stuffed toy of it? You still have that?” 

He tilted his head at the bird wanting to tell Sabo he had no idea what his brother was talking about, but he couldn’t. The blue-bird, as his mother had once called it, had been his most treasured childhood toy. His walls had been covered in birds; drawings had been placed all over the house and fridge. And then his mom found the stuffed version by chance. Ace spent years carrying it around, and even then, it remained perched fondly on a shelf next to an old picture of his mother.

Something about the bird niggled at his mind, it always had, but the picture was worse. The image was of a bird in flight, blue and yellow feathers dancing in the light as it soared threw the sky. He leaned toward the screen forgetting his wound and winced. 

Sabo’s eyes narrowed. That was three times he’d seen it, three times Ace had winced in some manner when moving. 

Ace pressed his hand to his side and lifted a hand in demand so he could read the article. Sabo handed it over and said: “apparently, it visits the same island once every ten years for one night only.” Sabo reached over and tapped the screen, and a video started of the bird actually flying. It was terrible quality, but it started from a cliff-side as the bird flew from out of camera, passing the trees and then vanishing toward the ocean. 

Ace felt his skin practically crawl as he saw the island itself. Something was… eerie about it, off-putting. He quickly handed the phone back. “Send me that picture.”

“Not the video?” 

“Naw,” he didn’t admit how off-putting it was, it wasn’t like he had a reason to be that unnerved. “Don’t need it.” 

His phone gave a soft noise, and Ace turned toward it, avoiding a quick motion, so Sabo wouldn’t notice, unfortunately, it was a bit late for that. His brother had seen the same wince occur several times already by then, and he’d decided enough was enough.

“So, ‘museum job’ is code for what?”

Ace choked and shot a look at him, finding Sabo leaning on his hand and staring Ace down. A taunting smirk grew on his face, and a brow arched: “is it a sexual thing? Because I gotta say… you could do better than Teach.” 

“Wha- Sabo… eww.” Ace recoiled, making a face at the very idea. Teach was a good friend, but he was slimy and had a terrible record with cleanliness and an instead BO problem. Not to mention the missing tooth. “Just no. What the hell made you ask that?” 

Sabo gestured to his chest: “you keep wincing. At first, I figured you got hurt somehow, but then I thought… what would have happened at a museum? So instead, I figured well, must be the ass then.”

“SABO!” 

“What?” He lifted his arms innocently, but the teasing expression couldn’t be disguised. “Its a perfectly legitimate assumption.”

“It’s a Night-guard job, Sabo! There’s no sex- oh my god-” he groaned, and Sabo dropped it, for the time being, he had different concerns that Ace’s sexual life. Which really he didn’t want to know the real details of. 

“So, how did you get hurt?”

Ace palmed his face with a long draw out noise. “You’d never believe me.”

“Ace… it’s me, try me.” Sabo held up a hand, “do I need to list all the times you told me insane nonsense, and I believed you?” Ace still kept his hands at his face even as Sabo spoke. Pressing his lips together, Sabo inclined his head, thinking ‘alright then.’ “Incident one! The day you came storming into my room because-”

“You don’t need to list them, Sabo.” Ace interrupted and pulled away from his hands, “it’s just… mad. But, you asked for it.” He glanced around checking to make sure no one was listening, then straightened and announced with preamble. ““the museum has this… exhibit, a fruit, and apparently it has the powers of the gods.” Sabo’s face went deadpanned, regardless Ace continued, “at night it brings everything in the museum to life, everything. And the injury happened because of the alabastan guards broke their weapon, a shard hit me.” 

“So your injury is because of an exhibit in the museum which… came to life and accidentally stabbed you.” 

Ace scowled, yes he knew it was crazy, but Sabo had asked. 

Sabo nodded twice as if that made perfect second: “Well… alright.” And Ace deflated as Sabo accepted him at his word. “I would like to see proof, but I know you don’t lie so… show me tonight?” Ace had also expected that Sabo would definitely need proof. And Ace was prepared to offer it. 

“Tonight.”

“Ah, told Sabo then did you.” Ace turned around quickly as a toothy smile inserted itself into the conversation. Instantly Ace smirked, that was perfect. One more person to prove the truth to Sabo and he could likewise show to Teach that Luffy was relatively harmless.

“Eavesdropping Teach?” 

Teach shrugged unrepentant as he dropped unceremoniously into his chair: “Couldn’t help it, I gotta say I miss it.”

“Wait,” Sabo gaped between the two, “he’s seen it?”

“Oh, it’s real alright.” Teach smirked, an expression that seemed taunting to Sabo but nothing strange to Ace, “and it’s a sight you’ll not soon forget.” 

“He did work there first, Sabo,” Ace added.

“This one here has been learning all his tricks from me. Though it seems you still need to get a handle on those Alabastan’s.” Teach tapped lightly at Ace’s side, “they’re dueling again? Always hated when they did that, takes the Pharaoh to get them to stop, and he never does.” He laughed, “had to lock the guy up in his sarcophagus, but he got the point! I was in charge.” 

Clearly, Teach expected them to laugh, but Sabo was too busy having his views rewritten and Ace… after seeing Luffy escape, something felt wrong about what Teach had done, even if it worked. Mildly uncomfortable and not liking to feel such a way about a friend Ace forced himself to laugh. Sabo alone realized something was off about it. 

Teach cheerily leaned back in his chair, “So, I’m coming. When are we doing this?” 

Sabo sat up quickly, “How about tonight?” Sabo knew Teach had late night lessons that night, a byproduct of the man always complaining about them. In theory, he’d be ‘busy,’ and Sabo could manage to get Ace alone for this visit, which was preferred. For some reason, he really didn’t want Teach there, but he couldn’t for the life of him explain why. 

Teach’s smile grew, “Tonight is fine for me,”

Ace, bless him, innocently asked: “Don’t you have a class tonight?” 

“Eh! Nothings more important than you, Ace, besides, I miss it.” 

Ace rolled his eyes even as Sabo’s stomach sank, “Please, you’d find your way to come even if I said no.”

“True.” Teach nodded proudly of his shenanigans, and Ace just sighed. Ideally, he’d have prepared to give Luffy specifically some warning, but the man probably wouldn’t mind. He’d been relaxed enough to meet Ace and seemed to get along well with everyone else in the museum. The easy-going pirate king would likely be fine meeting Ace’s brother and friend. 

“I can’t stop you Teach, you can visit… I’ll let you both in after dark, say nine?” 

“Should I bring a shield?” Teach teased, and Ace rolled his eyes skyward. Neither of them noticed Sabo politely excuse himself his expression pensive.

* * *

Sabo pretended to smile as he stopped in front of the museum steps. Ace had told him and Teach to arrive around sundown so Sabo had purposely arrived early. Unfortunately Teach was like-minded and was standing at the stairs waiting as the day crew finally closed up. The man in a loose, food stained, shirt stood at the doors with an eerie smile. His jacket had a few holes at the bottom, quite unlike Ace’s own. And his teeth… he had food in his teeth. 

Narrowly avoiding showing his disgust Sabo gave the man a slight wave: “You’re early.” 

“Had the time.” Teach thankfully didn’t offer his hand or god forbid attempt to shake Sabo’s hand as they met by the door. If he had Sabo knew he’d have to pull out the disinfectant in his pocket which wasn’t even his in the first-place. “You’re early too, didn’t expect that. Aren’t you aways late?” 

Sabo frowned because that sounded more insulting than it should have been. As if Teach was taunting Sabo for something he didn’t even know about. No, Sabo was probably just looking for reasons to hate the man. He sighed. He needed to stop judging Teach so strongly and so quickly.

“Shall we?” 

Sabo refocused and found Teach slipping a key into the front door to unlock it and jerked in surprise: “you have a key?” 

Teach laughed, “I lost the first ages ago and the old boss had a fit, so back a few months I made a few copies just in case I lost the new one. Didn’t expect to leave the job of course, but well, might as well use it no? ‘Sides, Ace is probably too busy setting up for tonight to let us in. This saves us some time from the cold.” 

“Setting up?” Sabo followed feeling like a hypocrite, he’d didn’t doubt he’d have done the same in the same case but somehow Teach made it… wrong. 

“Ah yeah, some of the exhibits can be a bit nasty.” They stepped inside and Teach locked the door behind them, “take the Alabastan’s for example, that wound on Ace didn’t come from nowhere.” 

“Hmmm,” They stepped in as the sun dipped behind the horizon. All at once noise exploded through the museum, a dozen voices groaning as they rose from their sleep. Sabo hadn’t doubted Ace, but he had to admit it was a bit beyond the norm so he’d been skeptical deep down. He had been until that moment. As statues on the upper form came to life and stretched, as paintings started to move and voices sang out. 

It was real. 

“Wow.” 

And magical. It was amazing. 

“So the world has magic like this.” Sabo breathed in wonder. The possibilities of such a thing, the historical lessons you could learn just by bringing the wrong person into the museum for a night. It was-

“Unlimitless isn’t it.” 

Sabo turned toward Teach. The man’s expression was unlike Sabo’s, where Sabo stood in wonder Teach stood in greed. There was plain naked want in Teach’s face and Sabo felt that paranoia in his chest explode into life. He opened his mouth to question the man, to perhaps voice his suspicions finally when the sound of slapping sandals echoed on the stairs above them.

“He didn’t-” Teach exhaled in horror while Sabo followed the noise to a rather simple man, a man who made his chest burn with grief and something almost like fondness. He was young looking, a young adult with raven black hair and equally dark eyes. He had a scar under his eye and a mess of burns visible under an low cut shirt. Sabo almost expected him to be wearing a long red and gold cloak as well as a straw-hat but neither were seen. Instead the man looked almost, under dressed. But what he lacked in clothing he more than made up for in expression. 

Never had Sabo seen such pure fury on a person before.

“YOU.” The word echoed around them like there was power in it, like the air was pressurized and Sabo suddenly found he couldn’t-… quite… breathe.

Teach sighed as if he was entirely put out by this mans appearance, “Well well… now this is a problem.” 

* * *

Ace dropped off a box for Doofenshmirtz and the meat for Luffy before heading on his other errands. He was tempted to allow the Minks electricity but then figured it would be a bad idea with Sabo and Teach running around. So he headed toward their exhibit next. 

Truthfully he was running behind. The day crew had taken extra time in the museum talking about nonsense, Ace hadn't been paying attention. And he'd been forced to move slower, especially with the meat and box, due to his wound. Ideally, Ace wanted to be done with his preparation before his brother got there, he badly wanted to see Sabo's reaction to the magic of the devil fruit. Unfortunately for him, the sun fell before he had. 

Ace was still heading down the halls, admittedly too quickly for his wound, when the sun dropped and Chopy the reindeer fell out of a hanging light. Ace yelped unattractively as the reindeer dropped in front of him and started to chatter furiously.

"What? What did I do?!" The reindeer pointed its hooves at Ace's side, then followed up with more angry chatter. Ace didn't get it, he didn't understand reindeer!

"He says you were supposed to be on bed rest, darling." They both looked to the side at the painting of a woman with endlessly long blond hair. Casually she brushed through the mess as Chopy chattered on again. "He also said he'll tie you to a chair if he needs to. You were supposed to rest dear, doctors orders."

"He's a reindeer." 

"A reindeer doctor," she shrugged, "regardless, he's not incorrect. I'm sure any animal would agree that after a large injury, you need rest."

"You say that like animals can become doctors whenever they like." 

She smirked and looked out her nearby window, "well, perhaps they can. Who knows, perhaps reindeer's, birds, and bears can do exactly that."

Ace rolled his eyes: "fine, whatever. But I didn't open my wound, I'm fine, and my brother is coming so… shoo." 

Choppy snarled, baring his teeth, not overly intimidating with the pink hat and blue nose. 

_"YOU!"_

Ace staggered as he, the painting, and Chopy froze at the same second as a furious voice echoed down the halls. It shook the walls and chilled Ace to the very core. Suddenly he was terrified, and he couldn't explain why- Ace grit his teeth as he was nearly forced to his knees, and Chopy's eyes rolled up as the animal fainted. Ace felt faint- what was- stay… the world went fuzzy. 

_"LEAVE."_ Leave? Was that Luffy? What was happening?

Ace stood still as Chopy fell into his legs and braced against the wall. Then step by staggering step, Ace made his way to the entrance room. He struggled past unconscious exhibits in every room, past the Alabastan area where the king alone remained standing but leaning against his throne. They caught eyes, and the Pharaoh grimaced. 

"Someone has angered the king… may he be merciful to grant them a short death." 

Fear stabbed Ace's heart, and he tripled his speed. Sabo… Sabo was visiting.

Short death? No, not Sabo, not his brother. Please don't take another from him, please!

Ace straightened and darted toward the entrance, he rounded a corner at almost full speed before coming to a skidding stop. There, in the middle of the entrance hall to the museum, was Sabo, Luffy, and Teach. Sabo, Ace's only brother, was on the ground unconscious. While Teach was under Luffy's sandaled foot screaming in fear, the man was struggling, begging for his life. But Luffy, the same man who only a day before freaked out because Ace was hurt, looked ready to kill. Ace hadn't even realized Luffy could look so frightening, but it should have been obvious. 

This, this was the pirate king. This was the man who conquered the seas and changed history. 

Something inside Ace snapped.

"PIRATE KING!" he spat, feeling more rage than he'd ever felt before. This thing, this corpse had hurt his brother and was hurting his friend. How dare he.

Luffy turned, he turned anger vanishing in an instant as he faced Ace. Their eyes locked. Luffy, the king of the pirates, looked directly into Ace's fury and balked. His foot slid from Teach's stomach, and he frantically waved a hand toward Ace desperate to remove the hatred from his face, "Ace- it's not what you think- he's-" 

Teach acted in an instant, he threw himself from the floor and wrapped something metal around Luffy's ankle with a loud click. Luffy's hand reached toward him, froze up. Then he dropped as if all the energy in his body had left him. If Ace had been in the right mind, he would have recognized the same effect as when Luffy got to close to the ocean; only this time, Luffy was actually conscious but far too weak to do anything but collapse. However, at that moment, as Ace stared at him limp form all he felt was relief… and Teach smiled.   


* * *

"Sabo!" Ace rushed down the stairs taking them three at a time. He sprinted past Luffy's body, not noticing the hand that tried to grasp for his ankle. Ace fell at Sabo's side hands frantically before he gently but firmly grabbed his brother's shoulders. "Sabo, wake up!" Sabo's head lolled back and forth to Ace's actions, and Ace's panic grew. 

"He'll be fine, Ace." He glanced back at Teach, his hands shaking to find Teach climbing calmly to his feet. Teach stepped beside Luffy, the king, and nudged him with a foot. Ace looked away, back toward Sabo as Teach continued: "The king just knocked him out," Teach sighed as if in disappointment, "That's why he's first on the list Ace, he's unpredictable, and he can be quite violent. You shouldn't have let him wander." 

Teach stepped forward and pressed his foot into Luffy's arm, dropping his full weight on the appendage. It stretched under his foot and caused Luffy to snarl up at him. Fascinating the power of sea-stone, Teach found himself thinking before placing himself between Luffy and Ace. Threateningly Teach revealed a weapon to Luffy, making his intentions clear. Speak up, and Ace was dead. Luffy's mouth snapped shut. 

Cringing in guilt, Ace supported Sabo's head and looked back to Teach. His eyes briefly went to Luffy laid out on the ground, unmoving despite the exhibits watching them from nearby. "What did you do to him?" Ace ensured he was between the king and Sabo lest the man suddenly recover from whatever Teach did and tried to hurt Sabo again. At the same time, Ace shoved back the sudden uncertainty and guilt over Luffy, wondering if… if maybe what happened could be explained.

"Its sea-stone." Teach explained kicking Luffy's leg and revealing an oddly colored shackle attached there, "My thesis mentions it. I wrote on the pirate age and the legends of their age, of course, most people think its nonsense, their abilities did come up. History calls them devil users, humans that carried devils in their bodies. Legend said that the sea was their only weakness, I theorized that the stone of the sea works just as well, turns out I was right. Though we've lost the method to find it or craft items with it, some sea-stone was passed down." He nudged the shackle once more, "This was my grandfathers, it was passed down in my family."

"Oh," Ace answered, slightly distracted as he checked Sabo's pulse and breathing. He was once again thankful that his grandfather insisted he and Sabo have first aid. His brother was breathing, and his heart was beating, he was just unconscious for some reason. There was no blood, no sign of trauma… Sabo just seemed to have dropped inexplicably. 

"Regardless, we should put him back in his display," Teach asked, suddenly stooping down beside Ace. He jumped at the sudden proximity, never realizing Teach had moved, but then Teach did that often. "We don't want you to get fired after all."

"I can…" Ace found himself instinctively leaning away from Teach to offer to do it, but Teach waved him off. 

"It's fine, take care of Sabo. I can do this." 

"Right… thanks, Teach." Ace watched Teach heft Luffy off the floor with surprising ease, watched Luffy's limp form as it was carried away, and felt a strange fissure of guilt. Like… like he'd made the wrong choice. Ace put it off to being shaken from the event and turned away as Teach left with a slight bounce in his step.

Looking away, Ace still heard the clink of Luffy's shackle dragging across the ground as they went up the stairs. It made Ace's skin crawl unnaturally; the idea of restraints on a pirate bothered something inside him. But then Ace remembered Sabo, his living brother, and pushed it back. Luffy was dangerous, just like Teach had said. 

Ace gently left Sabo from the ground, intending to take him to the staff lounge. If his brother didn't wake by the morning, Ace would bring him to the hospital, actually, perhaps he ought to just do that right away. Teach could handle the museum for a night, he'd already offered to handle Luffy and clearly had the means to do so. Though, it seemed entirely coincidental that Teach had brought the sea-stone with him when he didn't know Ace had let Luffy out.

Ace frowned. Actually, that was very odd. Why had Teach done that?

"Ugh…" 

"Sabo!" Ace snapped to attention as his brother ground, and his eyes fluttered open. Sabo then swore and covered his face, the small amount of light in the main hallway bothering his head. Ace winced in guilt, "This is all my fault, I never should have trusted him!" 

Sabo rolled slightly, accepting Ace's automatically offered hand so he could sit up and let loose a few swears. He rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hand. "Damn straight, you shouldn't have. He always put me off, but to plan all this from the beginning, that's another level of messed up." 

Ace jerked back a bit: "what?" 

Sabo dropped a hand and stared Ace down with a single pained eye, "what?" Sabo parroted, not sure why Ace was confused. Then he shook his head and scanned the area, "what happened anyway? An where's that guy…" 

"What guy?" Ace was beginning to think he and Sabo were most definitely not on the same pace. 

"You know," Sabo flapped a hand at Ace, "red shirt, sandals, obnoxious black hair. That guy." 

"Luffy?" Ah, now he got it, "Teach took him to be locked up, he won't hurt you again, Sabo." 

Sabo stared at Ace, Ace stared at Sabo. Then they both frowned at the same time. "No," Sabo said, "Luffy, or whatever his name is, was trying to save me. Teach tried to shoot me." 

Dead silence echoed between them.

"What?!"

"Ace, tell me you didn't let gun-toting maniac carry off the one guy who can actually protect us from the gun-toting maniac with missing teeth?"

"What the fuck are you on?" 

"Oh my god-" Sabo surged to his feet and hurriedly glanced around the area, "where is the exhibit- no, not the exhibit- where Luffy?!" 

"Luffy's- you're not kidding- shit!" Ace did a circle turn and sprinted for the stairs. Sabo was a split second behind as they rushed blindly for the pirate exhibit. "What did Teach do?!" Ace demanded as they raced after the man and the king. 

"Teach wants the fruit, the devil fruit, the thing bringing the exhibit to life. If he eats it, he gets control over life itself. He went full villain monologue on me." Sabo pressed a hand to his temple, trying not to show how much his head was killing him. The lights of the museum were blinding after what had affected him, which Sabo still couldn't explain. "Teach panicked when Luffy showed up and pointed the damned gun at me, it stopped Luffy dead." And Sabo still couldn't explain why a long-dead pirate king had actually stopped dead when Sabo had been threatened, "Teach was taunting him, how he'd heard Luffy's screams for years and had been delighted to ignore it and then… then I blacked out." 

Sabo touched his head, and they rounded a corner. Ace slowed to a stop as they reached the pirate exhibit, Teach was already inside, and the pair of them exchanged a look. A sane man would have called the police about a former employee attacking the museum. But Ace was of the mind that he couldn't explain the exhibits if the cops showed up and he actually wanted to protect them. While Sabo, the supposedly calm one, wanted Teach to suffer for the threats and the taunting. 

Slowly they peered around the corner and found Teach in the middle of the room holding up a golden fruit. Sabo and Ace exchanged a look. Years of practice had them come up with a plan in an instant, and Ace stepped forward. 

"What I don't get." Ace spoke up loudly as he caught sight of Luffy. The king had been dropped beside his coffin, he'd managed to crawl to a seated position leaning against the ancient material. The man was scowling so thickly that Ace almost forgot not to be frightened. Then he remembered that hate was not directed at him, but Teach. 

As he spoke, Teach turned calmly toward him and smiled. "Ace, welcome back," then his smile slipped, "what don't you understand?" 

Ace moved slowly, moved so Teach followed him with his eyes, and turned so that Sabo could sneak behind him, and he spoke with every step. "What I don't understand is why you didn't steal the fruit when you worked here. Why get me hired?" 

"Zehaha! I'm sure you can guess Ace, you're a smart man." 

Ace shrugged as Luffy's eyes caught his, he looked worried, far more worried than Ace thought he deserved for mistrusting him. "You wanted to frame me, with my history it would be easy to do. Steal the damn thing after I let you in, and people would never believe me who's worked here for a week, compared to you." 

"Exactly." Teach weighted the fruit in his hands, "you're the perfect scape-goat Ace. With that record, you almost weren't hired with that alone, but me, oh, they trusted me and my words." He turned the fruit in his hand, "it was perfect, you invited your perfect brother and me in, and I'd take the fruit… you'd not even notice until the sun fell tomorrow, and the museum failed to come to life, and by then, it would be too late. I'd have this." 

Teach admired the fruit in his hands. By the door, Sabo moved forward, aiming toward Luffy at a controlled pace. "And then you let that little fucker out of his box." Teach spun on the place and brandished his gun at Luffy. In an instant, he caught sight of Sabo, and he laughed. "Didn't think I'd notice the little blond weasel? Please, he hasn't trusted me once. Always suspicious of this one. I knew he'd be the hardest to fool." 

Ace and Sabo both froze as Teach leveled the gun at Sabo's chest. Neither of them spoke. They were stuck. 

"I thought I'd lost… I'd accept that." He stepped toward Sabo who slowly straightened from his crouch, "apparently the king cares more about human life than I first assumed. But it works out well for me." 

"Screw you," Sabo said rather simply, and Ace dared to take a step forward.

Teach laughed uncaringly, he'd won in his mind, the words didn't bother him. "Though I'll admit you woke sooner than expected."

"What do you mean I woke up sooner than expected?" Sabo asked. He had to keep Teach talking; if he was focused on Sabo, then Ace could grab him from behind, and then they might have a chance. Ace dared another step as Sabo spoke, though not one of them glanced toward Luffy, none of them even imagining Luffy could move.

"Conquerors Haki." Teach drawled pleased to share the knowledge he'd worked tirelessly for, "it's nothing more than a legend, an ability so rare even those during the pirate era thought it was nothing more than a ghost tale. Legend says the pirate king had it… and truly, he did." The man's eyes glittered, "I never thought I could have the chance to pit mine against another's." He laughed, "I was loosing until you aided me, Ace." He turned, and Ace was forced to a stop a Teach noticed the shortened distance between them.

"Fucker." Ace spat furious at himself, he'd trusted this man. He'd trusted him and look what had happened. 

"You can't shoot us, Teach." Sabo stated confident, "your theft requires us to be clueless if you shoot us people will know. Even the police will have to second guess Ace or I shooting each other." 

Teach laughed. "You moron. Don't you know what this is?" his hand clenched on the fruit, "it's the fruit of life." His finger twitched on the trigger, "I can kill you as many times as I want with this lovely thing, and you'll just come to life again and again and again. And how will you explain that away, Sabo? Blood without injury? No. You've lost, the moment the sea-stone was on the king's leg, you lost." 

Teach glanced between them and seemingly decided something. Without warning, Teach spun on the spot and pulled the trigger. 

"Sabo!" 

Ace's screamed was matched by another, two voices screaming out one name in the same moment as Teach shot at Sabo. Ace froze, horrified as something brown and pink hurled itself between Sabo and the weapon. There was an explosion of fabric as Chopy, the reindeer, stopped the bullet. 

As stated at the explosion of fur shocked that the creature had actually done it- Ace snapped back to Teach as the man casually brushed away some of the stuffing that had landed on him.

"Gotta say, I didn't expect that," Teach commented as if he were remarking on the weather. He nudged aside some of the outer fur treating it like it that was all it had been. Ace, at that moment, felt a surge of rage. The stuffed reindeer just saved Sabo, he deserved more respect.

As if he wasn't holding a bloodied dagger, while Sabo pushed himself off the floor while cradling his arm. 

"You're out-numbered." Ace snarled, but Sabo remained silent. From behind Teach, Sabo shook off the fright of his near death. He, like Teach, had white fluff covering him. Sabo didn't look at Ace as he exhaled an inaudible breath and refocused on what he had to do. Refocused on Luffy, who, despite the sea stone, was attempting to crawl toward them to help. They both knew Teach, he doubted heavily if that was the only-

"And you… are outmatched." Teach still directly the gun toward Ace, but his attention drifted. Ace knew right away he was trying to keep both Sabo and Ace in view and if he looked and found Sabo moving again- 

Ace couldn't let Teach do that.

Teach's eyes slid to the side, twitched just a bit to focus on Sabo. At that moment, Ace threw himself forward. He collided into Teach and grabbed for the gun. The fruit went flying from Teach's free hand as the man rounded on Ace. 

Nearby a set of suddenly hurried steps sounded followed by someone crashing to their knees. But Ace was scarcely paying attention to it, and he fought for his very left. As Teach struggled with the weapon's trigger, tried to point the tip of the gun into Ace's gut- Teach crashed his elbow into Ace's solar plexus, and he gasped as the air was completely knocked out of it.

Ace was shoved backward, thrown to the ground as Teach landed on top of his chest. In the single moment, it took Ace to recover from the blow, the gun was pointed right into his face.

"Stupid move, Ace."

Ace was beyond words as he spat at Teach the only thing he could think to do to continue distracting him from-

"No, that's you." It was a dark tone, but a light voice and Ace's eyes slid up from Teach's face to the man towering over them. Relief spiraled in his gut as he looked at dark eyes.

"That doesn't make sense, Luffy." 

"Seconded." Sabo drawled, and Ace followed Luffy to the stairs. Sabo was knelt there, hands up as if he'd just been holding something. Little did Ace know, Sabo had, Luffy had just moved that quickly.

Teach followed Ace's look to peer behind him and tensed at the furious expression upon him. 

Sabo, from the back, wiggled his hands to reveal the set of lock-picks in his fingers. 

"I don't know if you know, but my girlfriend taught me to pick locks. She was a street kid for a while, though that's not common knowledge." Sabo explained, attempting to show more confidence than he felt with a gun leveled at Ace's face. 

"I can't do that, but my navigator could," Luffy said, taking a step forward. The pressure in the room tripled, but Ace scarcely felt it; he only knew it was happening because of the way Teach suddenly looked to be struggling to remain up. As if the gravity tripled as if each breath was a challenge to take, Teach found himself stuck. "I can't see the ocean either. I can't let myself out of my coffin. I can't get my own food. But I can use conquerors haki, and I can protect my brothers!" 

"You're no match for him." Sabo commented lazily, "you lost the moment Ace let him out." 

In an instant, Luffy moved. He moved faster than light and did nothing more than rustle Ace's hair. In a moment, the space of a blink Teach was no longer pointing a gun at Ace, was no longer even on top of Ace. Instead, Ace was alone, and Teach was dangling in the air from Luffy's single arm. Luffy was holding a man of Teach's girth up as if it were simple, as if it were effortless.

"Once," Luffy said with deadly intent, "you took everything from me. My brother-" Luffy's eyes flickered to Ace, "-my Nakama, my home… I will not let you do it again." Teach grabbed at Luffy's hand with his free one, clutched at the fingers, and even with all his strength, he didn't even make Luffy's grip shift. This was the power of a pirate king. The strength to handle a man four times his side and not even break a sweat in doing so.

But his words were confusing. Why would Luffy have lost that to Teach?

Teach struggled, and Sabo was the first to call out a warning when Teach lifted the gun still miraculously in his grip and shot Luffy in the head. Ace was convinced he'd watch Luffy die then, only for the bullet to stretch at Luffy's skin and bounced back. In the end, Ace still watched someone die, but it was entirely of their own doing. 

The bullet ricocheted and lodged itself into Teach's forehead, ending his life in an instant.

With a grimace, Luffy dropped Teach's corpse to the ground, making it both thud and squish before he stooped and grabbed the devil-fruit which had landed nearby. Casually Luffy stepped over Teach's quickly bleeding corpse; oh god, Ace didn't know someone could bleed that much. 

Glancing at Sabo, who sagged beside the coffin, an insane question escaped Ace's lips: "You can pick locks?" 

"Who do you think kept stealing cash from your lock-box."

"Y-you I knew it! You’ll pay that back-" 

Sabo rolled his eyes as Luffy squatted beside Ace, staring him in the face. Almost sorrowfully, as if he was going to lose something vital to him, Luffy said: "Ace… we need to talk." He glanced at Sabo and added: "all three of us." 

"Right… yeah…" Ace glanced at the body and nodded, "yeah, we probably do." 

* * *

They sat in the lounge together, Luffy across from them with a leg crossed over his knees. He looked the very the picture of a king even though he had no crown, and his cloak wasn't on him. Not that they were paying much attention to the missing clothing. Not as Luffy started to explain why he'd known their names, and why he'd lost so much to Teach. As Luffy explained thousands of years of history in a few short sentences.

"Reincarnation… is real," Luffy started, "but memories don't remain. Teach was reincarnated from the man I truly called an enemy. He was directly responsible for the death of my brother… Portgas D. Ace." 

Ace sucked in a sharp breath at the same Sabo twisted to give him a wide-eyed stare. His mother's maiden name was not common knowledge, and it brought a sense of legitimacy to Luffy's tale. But… reincarnation carrying the exact same name? That couldn't be… could it?

"he, and... and a boy named Sabo was both of my adoptive brothers." 

Well… wow. "We were your brothers?" Ace glanced side-long as Sabo as an impossible connection formed in his head. His godmother, she'd been pregnant with a boy, the whole family knew it. They'd looked forward to his birth, but when the baby came, he'd been stillborn. 

"What were your parent's names?" Sabo asked, not daring to imagine. Because, because that would mean that Luffy might have very well have reincarnated with them. Because that would mean all their pain Ace's godmother had gone through, all the pain Garp and their family had gone through was because Luffy's soul had remained in his body, unable to escape because of a devil fruit. 

Luffy made a face, "I don't know who my mum was… and dad was…" he made a face, "I forget." Sabo and Ace deadpanned, and Luffy scowled at them both: "it's been a long time!"

Well… alright then. But: "Why are you telling us this?" 

There was that heart-breaking expression again. Ace watched Luffy look away; toward the window and the horizon out there. Ace didn't have to be a genius to know he was looking for the sea out there. "A pirate craves freedom and the sea… and I have neither." Luffy turned back to them and fished the fruit from his pocket then set it between them on the table, "I cannot pass on, I cannot reincarnate and live a new life." 'Like them' went unsaid, "and because of the fruit's power… I can never sail again." 

Luffy heaved a weakened sigh and suddenly changed the topic: "with its powers, you will lose the ability to swim, but you will be able to repair the damage done tonight. Teach's death. You can bring him back and have him arrested."

"And if we eat the fruit… you won't come to life. No one at the museum will be able to again." Sabo realized, "Teach will just be a thief after a priceless artifact, instead of a death we can't explain. Then when he claims the exhibits come to life…" 

"You wouldn't, even if something actually looked into it," Ace caught on just as quickly, "Luffy… I can't- you'd be dead, everyone in the museum…" It was his job to protect the exhibits, not kill them all. 

"We aren't alive, Ace," Luffy stood, "we're stone statues, stuffed animals, and long-dead pirates. All of us eternally trapped in this building, unable to move on." Luffy turned his back to them, trusting them behind him. Before he strode toward the door with one parting sentence: "Do what is best for you and your family Ace… and it was nice to meet you in this life." 

Luffy didn't expect to see them again, and Ace knew why. If he ate the fruit, Luffy would be dead for real. If he didn't, there was a huge chance he'd be fired, at best, for this incident. Despite knowing this, Ace didn't follow the man who'd saved his life. The king who'd been a brother to the past version of himself. The man who could have been his brother again if things had been different.

"What do we do?" Sabo asked, leaving it in Ace's hands.

"Not too hopeful, is he?" He glanced at his brother, "he probably relied on his crew and us to make plans if that's the best he could come up with." 

Sabo's lips quirked: "no doubt."

Ace gave a dramatic sigh and reached for the fruit, "goodbye swimming pool." 

"You don't even go that often." 

Ace shrugged, then shoved the nastiest thing he'd ever eaten in his life into his mouth.


	4. Epilogue

The sun hit the museum as the dawn came, and as a result, Sabo and Ace were rushing. Ace had to figure out how to bring a dead man back to life before anyone came to the museum, Sabo had to figure out how to explain the fruits disappearance, and they both had a ton of blood to clean up before anyone showed up. All this meant Ace did not check his phone the first time it went off. Or the second. But when it started to spam beep at him, he found himself looking and answering the utterly random number with a furious. 

“What?!” he kept the phone between his shoulder and his head as he attempted to wave his hands at Teach. The man had been firmly tired up and disarmed, but bringing him back was a challenge.

_“It will behoove you to know that I have arranged for the museum to be closed due to extenuating circumstances.”_

“What?” he said with more confusion this time and some slight alarm. It was a woman over the phone, nothing more to him than a stranger, but… but she was talking about the museum. 

_“I have contacted the current employees about the ‘flooding’ problem during the night and told them they are not to come in. The managerial member of the museum has meanwhile been informed that everything is running as intended. Ergo, you have little over an hour before the supervisor ought to arrive and realize something is incorrect. Get a move on, lest you be left with a corpse and sent to jail to become jail-bait.”_

“WHAT?!” By the third ‘what’ Sabo was now staring watching as Ace glanced around looking for someone watching them, and leveled his eyes on a camera pointed right at him. “Who are you? What- how do you even know-”

“Call me an interested party.” Now the voice was echoing. Ace frowned and looked away from the camera, and- there was a woman in the hallway with a laptop? How- what?? “My name is Nico Robin, though you may call me The Devil Child.” 

“The hacker?” Sabo spoke up as she hung up the phone and strode forward, uncaring of the corpse and the blood coating the floor. 

“Indeed.” She typed idly on the screen before flipping it, “Imagine my surprise to watch what occurred last night. I had been watching your progress for several nights, but I hardly expected the night I intended to arrive to turn into such chaos.” Ace and Sabo stared at the screen, watching camera footage of Ace wandering lazily through the hallways as if everything was perfectly normal in the museum. No exhibits moved, and- they both gasped. 

Footage showed Teach using his extra key to get into the museum with Sabo nowhere to be seen, then Teach moving to the life-fruit and stealing it before leaving. 

“How?” they both demanded, and she gave a simple shrug. 

“I pulled footage from his time as a night-guard and edited the footage from last night to reflect his actions. The other footage was over-layed from the daylight hours, darkened to make it seem like night. Rather simple really.” She snapped the laptop closed, “therefore, we can contact the police once this is dealt with and have Teach be apprehended outside the building where you, Gol, caught him.” 

“Why?” Ace said, still not able to fathom her existence, “who even are you? And why help us?” 

“Like I said, Nico Robin.” She glanced toward the nearby coffin, disappointed that she’d missed seeing Luffy awake, but accepting, “a reincarnated member of Monkey D. Luffy’s crew, with memories mostly intact... And I have been waiting too long to meet him again to miss out because of that bloodied mess.” She smirked, “now, the real trick will be arranging the ‘disappearance’ of Luffy’s body once you revive him.” Her smile grew teeth, “I have a few ideas…” 

* * *

"So, I've been fired." Ace announced as he strode up the gang-plank onto the small ship Robin had procured. He showed no fear to the potential that he might fall from the boat into the rather shallow ocean below. Something he could have easily swum before ingesting a magical fruit. Thankfully for him, Sabo could swim just fine, so if he truly did fall, he'd be fine.

"We expected that," Sabo stated as he dropped the last box on deck. He thought it was an old manner of travel, but Robin seemed to prefer it to flying, and he was fine going with what she wanted after how much she'd helped him. "And it isn't like you need the job anymore." A benefit of knowing a famous hacker who had a random soft spot for them. Robin had stolen vast amounts of money for them, and they were both basically set for life. Something he and Ace were taking in different ways. 

Ace had immediately moved out of his grandfather's house and bought a home by the ocean then went on a spending spree. Sabo had paid off his student loans and applied to work with charities to appease his guilt… slightly. Sabo continued to say nothing about the rather expensive furniture decorating his apartment or the necklace his girlfriend now wore.

Immediately following Teach's arrest, the police had looked at the museum with a fine-tooth comb. Robin's footage miraculously held up, and Teach was arrested with crimes of numerous thefts, not just the devil fruit's. It hadn't helped that they had extra keys found in his apartment and on his person for the museum. Thanks to Robin, Sabo, and Ace, Teach had been charged with stealing and replacing the priceless corpse of a pirate king, everything he owned, and countless other little items with fakes. The police put it up to a pirate obsession, and Teach had no way to prove his innocence with Robin's damning footage. He had, however, ended up with an insanity plea. 

In the end, Ace was fired purely because he hadn't noticed the thefts, not that Ace actually cared. The job was beyond boring without the exhibits running around to liven it up.

"That's the last box," Sabo said as he looked toward the sun in the distance, and Robin calmly attempting to learn to sew. She, Sabo, and Ace had collected every piece of Chopy's body before leaving the museum. She was trying to repair him before Ace officially brought him to life. The reindeer deserved it in Ace's opinion for saving Sabo. Though he didn't understand why Robin insisted on calling the stuffed animal Chopper.

"So… are we ready?" Sabo asked, eying the largest box on deck. Within was a coffin and the body of a long-dead pirate king who really thought Ace and Sabo would abandon them.

Ace huffed slightly now well aware of how draining bringing someone back from the dead was. Returning Teach had been quite an effort, though Robin theorized it was because he hadn't actually wanted to do it. He'd been exhausted and had slept for days after the event, which Sabo said might be because he hadn't slept it weeks before that. Regardless, Ace was actually excited to see Luffy's reaction when he finally realized where exactly he was. 

Therefore, Ace nodded, and they uncovered Luffy's body. They placed the coffin out of the way and set Luffy on the deck of the ship. Then Ace knelt down and put his hands firmly onto Luffy's still chest as the power within him built. 

* * *

It was like he’d woken up from a deep sleep. Like he’d done every night since the life-devil fruit had been awakened from its slumber. He was just awake. Just alive. Except for this time, something was different. This time, there were no walls at his side, no prison keeping him still. There was… there was the steady motion under his body that Luffy never imagined he’d ever feel again. 

He gasped, surging forward as his eyes snapped open, and there it was. The endless blues of the ocean lay before him, the steady waves, the sunlight lighting up the water with each ebb and flow. 

“Good morning, Captain.” 

Luffy turned tears forming in his eyes, and there was Robin. She looked just like she had all those years ago, in the prime of her life. Admittedly she was wearing different clothes than he could ever remember her in, more modern, like Ace and Sabo’s reincarnations… but the fondness in her eyes was unmistakable. This was his Robin. His Robin.

Obviously, he was dead. 

“ROBIN!” Luffy raced off his feet and tackled her into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her a dozen times over and clung with everything he had. He sobbed into her grip so relieved, so endlessly relieved that he couldn’t breathe. Robin was here, and he was free. 

“Good morning, Luffy.” Robin gave a fond little laugh so familiar that his heart hurt as he finally reclaimed the memory of it. Then her words registered, and he pulled back only then realizing they weren’t alone. It wasn’t his crew all together again, and that upset him a bit, but the sight of Sabo and Ace alive and well eased the pain. 

“I hope you’re happy,” Ace stated, “I can’t swim now.”

Luffy exhaled a wet laugh as it clicked. Ace had eaten the fruit, but he hadn’t let Luffy pass on. Instead, he’d brought Luffy completely back and gave him the chance to continue on his journey in a brand new time, memories intact. And… and they’d even found Robin for him, Robin, who remembered. 

“Ace... Sabo…” a grin genuinely worth of a D finally escaped, as Luffy smiled ear to ear and offered them the only thing he could. “Thank you!”

* * *

On a lawn chair, on a rather simple ship in the middle of the ocean, with an elegant looking drink in her hands, Robin stared at the screen of her laptop and gained a toothy grin. The news was shown there, and Luffy's face had been plastered all over it. He was officially a wanted man. And soon, everyone would know it. He was the new generation of pirate, and she knew he'd be thrilled.

Robin was pleased at the reaction. It only fit for Luffy's new wanted poster in a brand new era as well as a sign to the others across the world that would see it and know Luffy as more than just some unknown figure.

"Luffy! Come see!" she called to her captain, dragging the attention of her captain and the smalled furred form of Chopper.

Truly, Robin was not wrong about her theory. Hours later, the picture was shown all across the world.

A young man halfway across the world spotted it at the same time Robin had. He cackled into his hands as he read it while his adoptive grandfather gave him a confused look as he said to himself: "They'll never recognize me… this will be quite amusing!" Putting aside the paper, the young man gave his grandfather a fond warning: "I'm going on vacation Grandfather, don't wait up!" 

Shakily the man nodded used to the whims of his grandchild. The boy would return when he wanted to. All well, as long as he was happy.

On one particular snowy island, a boy with a long nose triumphantly screamed when he saw it. Bouncing in place, he rushed out of his room despite the early hour, thudding down the stairs he cut across the house before reaching his mother's room. Without a care to the fact that she was sleeping, he hurled the door open and rushed inside to launch bodily into her bed. His mum shrieked as she was bounced while he burrowed under the blankets, up her body, before popping out his head right under her chin. 

"I told you mum!" he said, eyes glittering delightedly, "I told you it was real! Look!" he brandished his phone, despite not being allowed on it at that hour, at his mother to show her the news report. On it, an aged man explained that what had occurred and that the Marines were actively looking for a young man who'd committed numerous crimes of theft that night. The boy naturally didn't care what crimes he'd committed; instead, he hurriedly to point at the smiling figure, which was placed centrally in the single image that escaped the event. 

"It's him! It's Luffy!" 

"Your imaginary friend?" his mother asked, rubbing her eyes to accept the phone. Personally, she thought that was an interesting person for her son to choose as his imaginary friend. Still, looking at him, she realized it was accurate to her son's descriptions and the imagines he had plastered all over his room. "But Luffy-san doesn't have his hat." She pointed out shrewdly. 

"That's 'cus he gave it to Zoro," he told her as if it were obvious, "so he can't have it now."

"But of course." She giggled at her precious baby even if he was now idolizing a thief… "Well, why don't we see about breakfast."

"Yeah! We have to, I need to eat to become big and strong, so Luffy will come to get me again." 

"Oh ho, are you going to become a wanted man?" 

"No, mum! A pirate, duh!" 

She laughed at her son's antics, not realizing he was being entirely truthful. 

Elsewhere a woman with orange hair stopped her bike at a familiar bar. Carelessly for once she tossed her helmet down and rushed into the front door, she paid no heed to the staff who by that point didn't even try to stop her. They knew very well if that wanted to stop her, that hell would be paid. Men had been fired for looking at her wrong, while the less said about the moron who tried to inappropriately touch her, the better.

The bar was the most popular on the island and was among the top in the world. It started with a young man with a love of cooking and built up when she got involved. She'd made the joint famous with word of mouth and expensive taste - though the prices for the food were generously affordable and part of the reason the restaurant was so popular. If you were hungry, you were served, that was just a simple fact. 

The self-proclaimed treasurer and manager of the restaurant rushed to the back. The moment she was out of sight of the front, she turned to the staff and made a single furious order. "OUT!" 

The staff didn't hesitate even if it would kill business for the day. They'd make it up, they always did, and her word was law.

"What's up?" the head chef asked the moment they were alone, he juggled a dozen dishes absently as he did. Almost like he was inhuman, at least according to regular stands. She didn't answer, she only dropped the paper she'd been carrying on the counter between them and let him look. 

Outside, the waiting staff heard a crash as a dozen dishes hit the ground, and a shout of pure unbridled joy escape their beloved head chef. Immediately they began to take bets at what had been said, but no one would come close. After all, how could they possibly guess that a long-dead Captain featured in their manager and head chef's memories had finally returned in the most explosive manner possible. 

Islands away, a young man lowered the paper and left his childhood home with a word to anyone. Across the city, he moved to a large ship-yard where he made his living. Countless ships had been built there and launched to start their journeys. Yet after all the years, only one remained. Never sold, never sailed, she waited for her captain, and he'd finally shown himself. 

Her shipwright met her that morning and looked to her figurehead: "It's finally time." He announced and heard her give a delighted laugh.

He missed the first announcement on a plane flying across the seas and continued to miss it as he failed to check his cell phone or any newspaper stands. As he went about his day after landing by heading to his hotel room and passing out. He continued to miss it as he headed to the tournament he'd entered on a whim. Until a young woman happened to be watching it before their match began. 

The strongest swordsman in the world since he was a child never showed up to his match, and only a handful would ever realize why he'd abandoned such a career for a life of crime. 

The Wanted picture was on every newspaper, cell phone, and webpage as the world debated over what they were seeing. A government base had been leveled, and huge secrets, the cause of several arrests, had been tossed onto the Internet. The culprits seemed to be an actual skeleton, a shadowy female, the back of a man's head, and a man who was a shoo-in for the long-dead pirate king who was smiling so wide that Ace's face hurt just looking at it. 

"At least he's happy," Sabo said as Ace pinned the paper up in his home. It was properly blown up and pinned thanks to the few million Robin had dumped into his account on a whim. Ace didn't question how the woman knew what day it was. 

"Yeah." Ace agreed, leaning back. Luffy was back on the high seas, and nothing suited him better.

* * *

In a lab deep under the ocean, a rib-cage without lungs took in a rattling breath that shook bone. The figure did not speak; he did not bother to anymore for his words would go unheeded. A thousand years he'd waited, and a thousand more would pass. 

He would wait. Unaware of who he was, unaware of what he was waiting for as time eroded his memories and his mind. 

He would wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After some discussion, Callanway suggested a marvel end-credit scene for the parts of this fic I didn't get a chance to write. I liked it a bit too much... so, there you go.


End file.
